Everlasting Promises - My ending
by hector.vorng
Summary: Creds go to starblade176, purely a fanfiction of a fanfiction..
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Percy

I took a pause from cutting down monsters, and took a swig of nectar from the canteen. So far, me, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Nico, Thalia and the hunters had managed to wipe out most of the monster army that had gathered at the base of Mt. Olympus. The Olympus in Greece that is, not on top of the Empire State Building. The reason why Gaea and Porphyrion had summoned their forces here is because Greece is the roots of the gods, if destroyed, they'd fade permanently. And we can't let that happen. " Percy, watch it, behind you"! Thalia yelled. I whirled, slashing automatically, cutting an Earthborn clean in half. I cursed. Even though we had closed the Doors of Death, and freed Thanatos, Gaea somehow was still able to resurrect monster at anytime and anywhere.

"Thanks Thals, I owe you one" I said

"Pffft, only one? You owe me a lot more than that, Kelp Head"! said Thalia.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Ok, fine, we'll settle it after we kill Leon and that Porpoise dude, alright" I said

"Fine, don't you dare forget or I'll shock you around the world" Thalia said.

"Haha, as if you can get close enough to touch me" I smirked.

Thalia opened her mouth, probably to give a rude retort, when Annabeth interrupted us and said to fight now and talk later.

"She's got a point" said Piper

We grouped together, keeping an eye out for any more monsters exploding out of the ground. There was a yell, and an explosion of lightning, we turned to see Jason and his father, Zeus, standing victoriously over Leon, who was beginning to disintegrate. Porphyrion turned, and gave a yell of fury, He raised a hand and fired a bolt of magic at Zeus, it slammed into him and he went toppling. Then a wall of force slammed into the other Olympians who were keeping him busy, and they scattered. We looked up to see him towering over Jason, who was exhausted, and then he raised his spear, ready to impale him.

"NO!" I roared, I concentrated and sent a wall of water from the river to wash over and pull Jason to us. Porphyrion's spear landed right after I swept him in.

"Ack, bleh, prfff" Jason mumbled "Thanks Percy, I'm sooo tired" Then he passed out.

"At least we got one less giant to worry about" I replied, trying to sound upbeat. Things were looking pretty gloomy. The gods were scattered and we were all worn out. Porphyrion overheard and boomed a laugh. " Do you think you puny demigods can defeat me? I am at full strength, unstoppable, invincible! Look how weak the gods are! Do you think you stand a chance?" he said. That made me really mad. "Oh yeah? If we're so weak, then why do you hide behind those monsters like a pathetic coward! Fight me then! I challenge you directly to a battle!" I yelled back. "I do not have time to deal with you, weakling, as much as I would like to kill you. I need to get rid of the gods, so I can pull their poisoned roots up. I'll let my little helpers kill you instead" he said evilly. Uh oh. Suddenly, all around us, at least 500 hundred Earthborn flew out of the ground. "Annabeth, go invisible, take out as many as you can, I got point, Thalia, you know what to do, Piper, charmspeak as many of them please, Leo, burn the ones that Piper charmspeaks, Frank, whatever animal, preferably an elephant or something, and Nico, Hazel, see if you can crack the ground open and cause a few of them to fall in? We have to protect Jason at all costs".

"Don't worry, I'm on it, Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said as she slipped on her Yankees cap. "Hey, don't I get a kiss first?" I asked. Silence. I sighed.

"I think we're beginning to know each other too well, Perce" Thalia said. She gave me a grin and slapped her bracelet. It instantly transformed into Aegis, the head of Medusa was so bad to look at that a whole group of Earthborns cowered. Piper was already charmspeaking them, and Leo was grinning like crazy, fire coated hammers bashing away at Earthborn heads. Frank had turned into a massive grizzly and was smashing Earthborns left and right. Nico and Hazel were holding hands, eyes closed and suddenly, a wall of rock surrounded Jason, and a deep crack appeared in a circle around it. Basically keeping Jason safe in a fortress. I was about to charge the Earthborns with Thalia when I heard a scream, a yell, and a booming laugh. I whirled, to see Artemis had gone too close to the ground, and Gaea was holding her in a vice like grip. Apollo was trying to pull her out but to no avail and Porphyrion was laughing. "Well, the first immortal blood in this war eh?" Suddenly, his spear tip glowed white hot, and the air crackled, as a huge ball of lightning formed. "Have fun in Tartarus Artemis!" Porphyrion laughed and then he threw it straight at Artemis.

Annabeth

I was stealthily hacking and stabbing Earthborns and other types of monsters when I heard someone yell 'No!'. I slashed the arms off the last Earthborn in front of me, and turned around, expecting something to hit me. Then I saw Artemis stuck on the ground, Porphyrion laughing, when something shot past me so fast, I barely saw it. Then I was drenched and I knew it was Percy. I watched in horror as Porphyrion summoned a ball of lightning on his spear tip and throw it at Artemis when Percy slammed into her, tossing her into the air just as the bolt hit Percy. I screamed as I saw him fly backwards and slam into the mountain with a ground shaking crash, tears running down my face. "Percy!" I screamed, and I noticed that everyone else was staring at the crater on the side of the mountain in shock. I then realized that the monsters were gone. I looked around and saw deep cracks in the ground, while a sweaty and pale looking Nico and Hazel were looking dumbfounded. Even Porphyrion had a surprised look on his face, and he too was staring at the crater. "Percy…" I said, and then something hit me hard on the back of the head, and I blacked out.

Artemis

Since everyone was attacking Porphyrion from above, I decided to try attacking from below, maybe I could hit him under his guard. I flew down, and the next thing I knew, my body was instantly wrapped in a hand made of dirt, and what made it worse was that I could feel it draining my strength, preventing me from escaping. I cursed Gaea and tried to move but I found myself paralyzed. Apollo, stupid brother he is, tried to pull me up, but Gaea just pulled tightened her grip on me and raised a hand to capture Apollo. I told him to let go, or else he'd be trapped too. He reluctantly let go. Gaea turned her hand, so that I was looking straight at Porphyrion, or more specifically, his spear tip. He laughed, and said some worthless things, and I could only watch in horror as he summoned a massive ball of lightning that would have made my father jealous. When he was about to throw it, I closed my eyes, and braced myself for impact. And I did get hit. Just not on my front, but my side. That something slammed into me like Hephaestus smashing his hammer on a piece of metal, with so much force that I was ripped free of the hand. As I went flying, I opened my eyes to see what hit me, and saw a mass of messy black hair, a glowing bronze sword, and piercing green eyes. It was Perseus Jackson. Saving my life. Again.

How many times do I have to be saved by this bo-man? I thought. First was taking the sky for me, then defeating Kronos and defending our thrones. Now was taking the bolt for me. Perseus Jackson intrigued me. He was so different from all other men, selfless, always thinking about others, very kinda, carefree, and loyal to a fault. I would never admit it, but I had already developed some feelings for him, even though I did my best to bury it deep. Besides, he already has a girlfriend. Wait, why do I even care if he's got a girlfriend or not? I was shaken out of my thoughts by a ground shaking boom (lol) and I stared in shock at the crater in at the base of the mountain and the piles of rocks that now buried Percy. I realized that Apollo was holding onto me, healing my cuts, even though it cost him energy. I wrenched my arm away, "There is no way he could have survived that" I whispered sadly, a tear unconsciously rolling down my face. Those words had barely left my mouth when the rocks exploded with the force of a bomb.


	2. Chapter 2

"No way" Apollo muttered. A figure staggered out of the dust. Percy Jackson. And he seemed angry. No, angry was putting it mildly, even saying he was furious was an understatement. The air around him rippled and warped, his eyes glowed a poisonous green and the blood leaking out of his mouth didn't help.

"h-h-how?" Porphyrion stuttered. Percy gave a demonic grin, almost crazy look that made Artemis question whether he was still sane or not. "Hardened water helps with the impact, you know" Percy replied, still grinning like crazy. Suddenly, the look disappeared, to be replaced by pure rage and concentration. "Enough games and talk Porphyrion, we end this NOW!" he roared. He lifted his arms, and the earth cracked as several geysers exploded out of the ground. Water from the river flew over, and Percy pointed at Porphyrion. They hardened, and flew at Porphyrion, a massive cloud of hardened water spikes, slamming into him, one after another. Ichor flowed like a waterfall as Porphyrion roared, he sent another blast of lightning at Percy. He lifted the sword, angled it, and the bolt deflected off his sword and flew right back at Porphyrion, hitting him square in the chest. He tumbled.

Then Percy seemed to be directing the water around him, lifting him higher, and Artemis realized that he was surrounding himself in water. Soon, Percy had made a 30 foot tall water giant, with him right into the middle. Percy stomped towards Porphyrion, and began to beat the crap out of Porphyrion, mercilessly driving his fists into Porphyrion's face and body. Porphyrion attempted to fight back, but it was clear that Percy had the upper hand. Artemis marveled at Percy's strategy, Porphyrion's fighting style was fighting smaller beings, if he used the same tactics against the same size being, he'd lose.

There was a triumphant cry as Porphyrion managed to stab his spear straight through the water giant's stomach, but then his cry turned to a shriek of horror as the water hardened around it and ripped the spear away from him. Momentarily distracted, Percy took the chance to draw back his hand and hit Porphyrion with a massive upper cut, so strong that Porphyrion flew up. Instantly, the water giant disappeared, and a huge, thick, massive spike stood straight against the ground.

Artemis's eyes widened in anticipation as she realized what Percy had planned. A split second later, Porphyrion crashed onto the spike, screaming in pain as his butt was raped by the spike. Everyone, the monsters, the conscious demigods, and the gods winced. Even Hades managed to look paler than he usually was. Porphyrion attempted to stand, but cried out in pain again.

 _"Wow, Percy's control over water is great"_ Artemis thought dryly

"You.. You will die painfully, Sea scum" Porphyrion gasped out.

"Yeah, I'd be worried if it weren't for the fact that you're obviously constipated" Percy replied, smirking.

"Now, get ready to be _crushed_!" Percy yelled. He slammed Riptide into the ground. Poseidon's eyes widened,

"Get off the ground! And protect the demigods!" Poseidon roared. Instantly, all twelve of us lifted off the ground and levitated the demigods off the ground just as a huge, massive earthquake, like magnitude 16 shook the ground.

All Artemis knew was that it was far more powerful than anything Poseidon had ever conjured. Porphyrion was knocked around like a billiard ball when they get hit by the cue ball, and all the monsters instantly crashed to the ground. Even with all the shaking, she couldn't help but notice that the cracks that branched out from Riptide seemed to be going in an oval shape, at least a football field long. As the quake subsided, water from almost every direction came rushing in. Percy seemed to be directing the water straight into the cracks, which didn't make any sense, until Percy wrenched Riptide out of the ground.

He raised his sword and arms up, and with a huge groan and massive shaking, the entire football field sized chunk of land began leveling and floating out of the ground. All the gods gasped. Percy was glowing with an aura of power, his green eyes so intense, it could've burned through titanium. The island rose higher and higher, with the column of water surging upwards, pushing up. Then Percy turned his hand so it looked like he was holding a bowl, and the water shifted, mimicking his shape exactly, so that it looked like a watery hand was holding a big rock. Strike that, a really big hand holding a ginormous rock

Porphyrion had staggered to his knees, being a big dude, the earthquake had rattled every bone in his being. And being butt raped did not help. He did not appear to have noticed that Percy was getting ready to crush him, for he was still yelling, " I will smash you, Perseus Jackson! And I will have intense pleasure on seeing you crushed to pulp!" he roared.

 _"Talk about irony…"_ Artemis thought.

He looked up. And his mouth literally dropped wide open.

Percy gave a wicked grin, "Who's crushing who?"

and he brought his hand down as hard and fast as he could. The water mimicked his movements, throwing the island at incredible speed, smashing into Porphyrion so hard that the island exploded as it crushed him. There was a roar of pain and a lot of wince inducing snapping sounds, the ground trembled, then stilled. The gods were shocked as they stared at the mound of broken rocks.

"Is he destroyed…?" Zeus asked. They flew over, picking up the demigods as they went, and stared at the newly formed crater. Porphyrion, or more like his horribly deformed body, lay in pool of ichor, enough to fill Lake Michigan.

"Awww, poor thing, here, let me help you" Artemis said. She drew back her bow, nocked an extra bright silver arrow, and fired it straight into what she supposed was his head. It hit with an explosion of silver fire, and slowly, his body disintegrated. The ground shook, and a silent scream was heard, a scream that chilled everyone, even the gods. Then silence. There was a distant thud, and Artemis whirled around to find Percy lying face down in a pool of his own blood.

"Percy!" Artemis cried

She and everyone else rushed over to him, she flipped him over and press a hand to his chest, feeling, praying for a heartbeat. He was stark white and his breathing was shallow. She felt a very faint _thump, thump_ signaling a dangerously slow heartbeat.

"Apollo! Get over her- ''

"Already here, sis, now move aside" Apollo said. He laid his hand on his chest, and sent a pulse of golden light into him. He frowned. This time, he bathed his whole body in golden light. Percy coughed, spluttered, and said "Ahhh, what happened? I just blacked out…".

"You used too much of your powers, cuz." "Don't worry, I've got you covered, now _sleep_ " Apollo replied.

He nodded, and then he relaxed, the colour already returning to his face. Everyone let out a collective breath.

"Hey Apollo, think you can wake Annabeth up? She's been out for a while." Thalia asked. Apollo took a look and sent a jab of golden light into her head. Annabeth jerked, and she instantly woke up.

"Whoa, where am I? Wait, Percy! Is he alive? Where is he?" Annabeth almost shrieked.

"Hey, hey, calm down, he's alive, all is well." Apollo said.

"Oh. Good." Annabeth said. "Argh, my head hurts."

"Hey, can you wake Jason up?" Piper asked.

"No need, I'm awake. Other than feeling really weak, I'm fine…" Jason mumbled. He looked around and his eyes widened.

"Wait, where's Porphyrion?"

"He's destroyed" replied Zeus

"Oh. How did he die?"

"Erm, painfully. Very painfully. Let's not get into details. At the hands of Percy Jackson, no less" Zeus.

Jason's eyes bugged out, "Holy crap, he killed Porphyrion?"

"Yes. It seems us gods are once again deep in his debt…" Athena grumbled.

"C'mon people, it's time to CELEBRATE!" Hades said. Everyone started at him. "Hey, just because I'm the god of the dead doesn't mean I'm downcast and gloomy. Whatcha waiting for, brother? Let's go to Olympus, reward our heroes and have fun!"

"Um, yes, yes, of course" Zeus replied, still surprised a bit at his brother's behavior.

He snapped his fingers, and everyone was engulfed in a golden light as they were transported to Olympus. Percy regained consciousness on arrival, and had regained enough strength to lean heavily on Frank and Hazel to walk. The gods sat in their thrones, and Zeus began a speech, talking about the bravery of the gods, blah blah blah. Artemis hardly paid any attention to it, she was very tired. And she wondered what Percy would say when Zeus would most likely offer him godhood. Again. Part of her hoped that he would accept, even though she had no idea why, but she knew that he would turn it down again out of his love for Annabeth.

"And now, let us reward our brave and courageous demigod children, without whom I am sure it would have been ah, difficult to win the war…" Zeus said.

"Difficult?" asked Percy.

"Ok, fine, near impossible…" Zeus grumbled.

 **Percy**

 **(Ok, I have no idea what the rewards are for the other people, so I'm just skipping to Percy's.)**

"Perseus Jackson!" Poseidon's voice boomed out. _"Ah hell, I can barely stand"_ Percy thought. He staggered to his feet, and tried to walk as straight as he could in front of his father. He bowed to his father first, then knelt at Zeus's feet.

"Well Perseus Jackson, we once again offer you godhood. Do you accept?" Zeus asked. He said it in a very I-know-what-you're-going-to-say type of way. Percy smiled.

"Ah, with all due respect Lord Zeus, but I'm pretty sure you know what my answer will be. And please don't take offence." Percy said. He glanced back at Annabeth who was gazing at him with starry eyes.

Zeus sighed. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised… Is there anything us gods could at least give you or something?"

"Well, come to think of it,- he turned to Hephaestus- Lord Hephaestus, can you take Riptide and make an exact duplicate of it? Same in all aspects? And instead of two pens, just one pen when I take it out, and if I wish to take out the second, I just reach into the handle to pull out the second one?" Percy asked. Lord Hephaestus thought about it.

"Hand me Riptide"

Percy handed it over. Hephaestus uncapped it, and watched as the sword sprang to its full form.

"Hmm, very well made, it should take me only a day to replicate this down to its powers and whatnot." He said. Then he asked another question, "This is extremely good craftsmanship, who made it?"

Percy turned his head upward, looking at his favourite constellation: The Hunter.

"Zoe Nightshade made it, Lord Hephaestus, and it is imbued with her immortal power." Percy replied.

"Ah, that explains it" Hephaestus muttered. "I'll return it to you tomorrow, at 3 o'clock, fighting arena, sharp."

"Thank you Lord Hephaestus" Percy said.

"Is there anything else you wish from us, Percy Jackson?" Zeus asked.

"Yes, m'lord"

"Well, what is it?"

"I've been thinking, can you make gives Hades a throne on Olympus and restore Hestia's throne?"

There was a lot of surprised looks at this, and plenty of grumbling, mostly on Zeus's part.

"Well, I suppose that in light of your services, I will honour your request." Zeus said. He clapped his hands, and a two massive thrones burst through the ground, one that was a glossy black, made of obsidian, with all types of gems studded at its base, for Hades, and another throne that glowed a warm red, bits of it on fire, for Hestia. Hades looked at me with gratitude and surprise in his eyes as he sat in his new throne, while Hestia just gave me a shy smile.

"Very well, then, now let us celebrate the end of this war!" Zeus yelled, and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the Muses cranked up their tunes, Dionysus and Demeter made food appear all across the tables, and Zeus even pardoned Dionysus from his punishment for a tonight and let him drink.

After dancing with Annabeth for a while, and getting clapped on the back and drowned in congratulations, I lounged near the pool that held the Ophiotaurus.

"Percy Jackson"

I jerked, startled, and turned around and saw the last goddess I wanted to see. Athena. Not wanting to get on her bad side, I bowed and asked her, "Yes Lady Athena?"

"I'll let you stay at camp for a couple of months to train."

"Train? For what?" I asked, confused.

Athena's eyes glinted, and I instantly had a feeling of dread.

"Why, you're going to prove yourself, Perseus Jackson."


	3. Chapter 3

_3 months later_

 **Percy**

I stood at the boundaries of the Adirondack Park, waiting for Athena to show up and tell me what I must do. She was also apparently bringing me two companions to keep me company, they couldn't help on my quest, but they'd stop me from getting bored. There was a flash of light, and a rustle. I turned around and bowed to Athena.

"So, what is it that you want me to do, Lady Athena" I asked.

"Well, I had originally thought of you doing the Labours of Hercules, who once _was_ the greatest hero. But, you've done most of them already, so I'll just give you three objectives. One, is to get the Girdle of Hippolyta, which should be easy enough, the second, however, is difficult. Even for you. I will increase your demigod scent by 200%, so that any monster within a 100 miles will know where you are. You must survive like that for a week. Oh, and no hiding. You must face them all. The last objective, assuming you survive the second one, well, I'll tell you if you finish the second objective, alright?"

"Erm, ok, but who are my two companions?" I asked. Athena smiled, "Oh, you're best friends with them. And they could learn some fighting skills by watching you anyway." She snapped her fingers, and out of the shadows, Nico appeared. There was a barely perceptible rustle, and Thalia dropped down from the tree.

"Thalia! How long have you been spying on me?" I wondered.

"Quite a while, Seaweed Brain. You were always too stupid to sense when someone's following you. Why do you think I chose the forest as a meeting place?" Thalia replied.

"Oh, so Artemis is near?"

"Yeah, she let me accompany you, I think she thinks you're the only decent man left on Earth".

"Huh. Coming from her, that means a lot…"

"Oh boy, I can't wait to see you fight those monsters Percy, and especially against La- ahem, I mean the Drakons that'll probably appear." Nico said.

I squinted my eyes at him, he almost let something slip, and Athena was glaring at him. I glanced at Thalia, who was also staring at Nico the same way as I was.

"Well, enough time wasted, I suggest you hurry up and go find the Amazons, Jackson. Now, close your eyes, and hold your breath, and try not to throw up." Athena said.

"Wha..?.?" Was all I got out before we were blinded by a golden light.

Once the golden light faded, I felt me, Thalia and Nico beside me. All three of us instantly raised our hand to our mouths and coughed slightly. I was pretty sure all three of us were green.

"So, where are we?" Nico asked.

"Um, hey, I recognize this place! We're in Seattle. Alright, we need to fight the Amazon store." I said.

"What? You mean, the Amazon store as in Amazon the online shopping center?" Thalia asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, online Amazon and the ancient Amazons are the same. Massive flirts and they even sell pegasi!" I complained.

"Oh, well, I didn't know that. You have any idea on how to obtain the girdle?"

"Yeah. Walk in there, get captured, beaten up, swear on the Styx that I'll return it once I show it to Athena, and poof, done." I said.

"Seriously, did you think I'm that stupid? It's going to be much, much harder to get the girdle, I promise you." A voice said. All three of us instantly whirled around, trying to see where the voice had come from.

"I'm right here, dumbos." We turned to see a blonde haired woman with stormy gray eyes standing right in front of us with a smug expression.

"Lady Athena. Didn't you say that I wasn't supposed to get any help?"

"Well, not from your two companions, but certainly I don't want you to die. Amazon is that way, I've already set everything up with them." Athena replied with a evil grin, and then she disappeared in a gust of wind.

"Oookkkk, that was weird." I said.

"Well, I don't care what she said, but at least she told you where the Amazons are. Now let's get going." Thalia said.

We walked up to the Amazons, and before any of us could say a single word, hands shot out and snatched us inside to complete darkness.

"Yup, it's them, bring them to Hylla Two Kill." A voice said. We were pushed and shoved among a dizzying amount of turns, twists, and 360s. We were handled rather roughly, until a voice I recognized spoke out,

"Awww, you don't have to treat them so badly, at least, not for the Hunter. And I'd be _personally_ pleased if you treated the the tall, handsome, hot black haired boy well" "The other one, I dunno, so I don't care."

"Ooo, it's him, the one that helped Reyna, right? Let me handle him!" a voice squealed. There was a bunch of of squealing, shoving, and small slapping sounds. Then I felt someone drape an arm over my shoulders, and she spoke. "I've got him" she said smugly. Cue the 'Awwws'.

There was a fair amount of snickering, and 'Yes ma'am's at this.

"Nice to meet you too, Kinzie…" I said.

"See? He remembers me! Isn't that so cute?" Kinzie exclaimed.

"Seriously, you'd think that tough Amazons wouldn't act like Aphrodite child's…" Nico grumbled. There were several slapping sounds, and 'Ow's' at this.

"You haven't proved yourself yet, boy, so shut up. Or I'll gag you instead." Kinzie said harshly. Silence. "Good, maybe there's hope for you yet."

We walked along, with Kinzie leaning on me with a surprising grip, I had tried to wiggle myself out but she had an iron hand.

"Alright, we've arrived" Kinzie said.

The doors opened into a room full of brightness, a room I recognized well, as we stumbled from the sudden transition to brightness.

"Ah, Percy Jackson and his two companions. So, you want the girdle? I know you are trustworthy, and you stick to your word, any fool can see that. If I were by myself, I'd gladly let you take it, but unfortunately, _something_ has changed my mind, and persuaded me to give you the girdle only after you go through all our training sessions and reach the level of " Commander". Hylla said.

"Training sessions? That's easy, bring it on then." I said confidently.

Hylla smirked, "On average, it takes two years to finish the Commander training, boy, and our best ones finished it in one and a half years. Even you, skilled as you are, will take at least 6 months to finish it."

"What? _Six months?"_ I practically shrieked.

Hylla smirked again, "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of, ah, _distractions_ to keep you busy." She replied, glancing at Kinzie and all the other female Amazons. I then realized they were all staring at me, drooling. Crap. I knew what Athena was getting at, separate me for a long time, see if I still love Annabeth after all that time. Fine. I'll take whatever it takes to be with Annabeth.

"So, do you accept?"

"Yes, I accept" I grumbled.

"Excellent. Kinzie, take him and the Hunter to their respective rooms. Show Thalia around or whatever she pleases, Percy, be here tomorrow morning 8 o'clock, sharp, then I'll take you to the arena for the trials"

"Um, ok, er, what about Nico?" I asked.

She looked at him rather distastefully. "Well, I suppose he could train with the rest of the Amazons. If that's alright with him, or we could put him to work like the other males" she said, motioning to the males in orange jumpsuits and iron collars.

"Erm, I'd love to train." Nico said hurriedly.

"Yeah me too, might as well, since I'm gonna have to live here for like half a year" said Thalia.

"Very well, now, leave me be, I need to get your levels and whatnot ready" Hylla said.

"At once, my lady" Kinzie said. She took us to our rooms, which was surprisingly well furnished, two nice looking beds, a TV, and bathroom. Thalia obviously got a much better room, it was big, had a massive wall sized TV, a cool looking computer, and a king sized bed. _Lucky her…_ I thought. Thalia gave a squeal of delight, and promptly began jumping up and down the bed.

"Jeeze Thalia, can't you be more mature?" I asked. She responded by giving me a good glare and a shock. "Some things never change…" I muttered. "Wait Nico, don't jump yet, we have to make sure they didn't rig the bed with traps" I said, as Nico looked like he was about to jump on it too. I carefully prodded and looked around the bed, silently thanking Travis and Connor Stoll's tricks, even though I'd never admit it in front of them.

"All right, all clear, bounce all you want. Just don't break the bed". I said

Nico promptly jumped on it with joy, while I was half expecting the bed to snap with a large hole in the ground, sending Nico to who-knows-where. I crashed onto the bed, and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, I woke up, found breakfast on the bedside table (Wow, room service!) inhaled the whole thing, took a shower, and opened the door, intending to ask an Amazon on how to get to the throne room. Instead, I was met by an Aphrodite-like dressed Kinzie, who stood there, batting her eyelashes at me with big puppy eyes. I jerked backwards.

"Aww, come on, you don't have to be shy, I'm just here to take you to the throne room. Then I gotta train." Kinzie said.

"You need to train in that type of clothing?" I asked, noticing that she was wearing killer high heels, extremely tight skinny jeans, and a low cut t shirt.

"I can change clothes quickly" she said, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Want me to show you?" giving me a seductive smile.

I blushed. "No thanks. I'm not here for that type of thing, and never will. Now, where's the throne room?" I grumbled.

"Humph. I wonder what that girl Annabeth sees in you." She pouted. "Follow me". She took me to a door that looked completely normal. Then she took out a special card. "Only I and Hylla have this" she said. She swiped it, and the door retracted. I looked in, it looked like a big slide. "Um… " and then she shoved me forward. I flew down at high speed, and I must say, it's quite fun. Then the slide angled upwards, and before I knew it, I was in midair, and crashed on the water. Well, that was considerate, as the water completely cushioned my fall. I willed the water to carry me out, just as I touched the floor, Kinzie walked out of a side door.

"How'd you get down here so fast? Especially in those heels?" I asked.

"That isn't the only slide, dummy." Kinzie said. "If you want, I could show you all those hidden doors" she said, giving me a sly glance.

"Stop flirting, Kinzie, he's here to prove himself." Hylla said. "In there, Jackson" pointing to another door. I walked through, with Hylla and Kinzie following behind. You'll spend a nice long time training, and at the end of each training session is your tests. However, since you're pretty good, we'll just do the tests for a couple days. Then it'll be javelin throwing, throwing knives, darts, archery, etc.

"Archery?" I stuttered. I was horrible at it.

Hylla gave me an evil grin. "Yeah, we know you suck at it, but we'll see if we can do anything about it. I'll let you off if you don't make the archery, since even Apollo said that with his blessing, you couldn't shoot the backside of an elephant."

"Very funny…" I growled.

"Well, let's begin, shall we?" Hylla said. She clapped her hands, and five automatons came rolling out.

"Only five?" I was surprised. This was supposed to be a challenge? Suddenly, one of the automatons arms moved with a blur and I instinctively duck. Just as a bronze throwing knife impaled itself on the wall behind me. Ok, maybe not so easy… and this was supposed to be the first level…

Hylla had a smug look on her face. "You were saying?" "And they're also built of Celestial Bronze, an extra challenge."

Oh _Hades._ I pulled out both of my swords and slashed as hard as I could. It made a nice deep cut on the automatons chest, but it didn't slow him down. Even after stabbing him several times in the chest didn't help. I had to slice his cursed head off.

"Are you sure this is Commander level?" I yelled, dodging a almost too fast to see blade.

"Oh. I lied. This is a completely new level, you should be honoured, Hephaestus himself built the automatons. More than fifty thousand in total." And if you make it through these levels, we'll call these the Percy Jackson levels. Hylla replied.

" _FIFTY THOUSAND?"_ I more or less screamed, slashing off two heads.

"Pffft. Stop yelling, orI'll force you to kill them with only a bow and arrow. No swords." Hylla snapped.

I finally killed off the last automaton. "Ugh, please tell me that I only have a few more levels to go through…" I said.

Kinzie smiled. "Nope, you have another 800 levels to go through, plus training." "Of course, I could always give you a massage if you want" she said in a hopeful voice.

 _800 more levels?_ I thought. This is going to take a long time…

I was sore and beaten up after my training. And those were only for the first 8 levels. _792 levels to go…_ I thought glumly. I more or less slumped into a seat in the mess hall and began scarfing down my dinner. Seconds after I had sat down, a very cheerful and happy Thalia and a grumpy, tired looking Nico sat on either side of me. Nico just mumbled a 'Hi' and began shoveling the food into his mouth, while Thalia gave me a cheerful smile and ate at a much slower pace.

"Jeez boys, what's the rush?" Thalia asked.

"Jeez Thalia, why are you so cheerful?" grumped Nico. Thalia must've been in a very good mood to not shock Nico to the Underworld since she answered in a such a happy tone.

"Oh, not much, we went skydiving, watched movies, played on a really neat obstacle course. It was very fun today. And we're going to do a lot more stuff too, since we have like half a year of time." She said.

"Glad that you're happy, Thals…". I said in between mouthfuls of barbecue.

"Well, I gotta go to bed guys, need all the energy I can get if I'm to expect to survive tomorrow…" Nico said. With that, he jumped up and literally rushed to the staircases.

Thalia rolled her eyes and muttered "Boys… No endurance." Then she turned to me.

"So, how was your day Perce?" Thalia asked.

"Oh, same old, train on celestial bronze robots, get beaten up, and trying to wrench your sword out of a robots chest." I answered nonchalantly.

Thalia raised an eyebrow and gave me the 'really?' look.

"Yeah, more or less." On my last level, I'm so supposed to kill a lot of monsters and robots." I grumbled.

Thalia laughed. "Well, that's what you get for dating a daughter of Athena, Seaweed Brain. Tell you what, after you finish this stuff, and when you propose to Annabeth, three of us go to any restaurant and just hang out and catch up with the times. Deal?"

"Yeah, definitely." I replied. We shook on it.

"Right, I'm going to sleep too, Pinecone Face, so good night. Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it.?"

"Stop those girls from goggling me, I can't sleep with so many people staring at me." I complained

Thalia laughed again. "Yeah, sure, no problem, I'll do my best."

"Thanks again Thals."

"Good night"

I crashed onto the bed and barely had my head hit the pillow, I was snoring.

And so it went. Every day, I would wake up, go down the slide, eat breakfast, and train and fight. Over the next few months, I could throw knives with pinpoint accuracy, I could calculate what angle to throw them, I could fight blindfolded, using only my other senses, I could throw a javelin through a oak tree from one hundred and fifty meters away, I could take an entire legion of celestial bronze automatons without breaking sweat, my swordsmanship was better than ever, and I had learned some fighting tricks, and some extremely cool counter attacking moves. They apparently picked it up from a video game called _Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood._ At first, I was incredulous, 'You guys learn fighting moves from a _video game?_ ' but when they showed them to me, I was pretty impressed. Then they gave me the game to play. And while some of the moves were for show, a lot of them were actually very smart. And I really wished that I had a pair of hidden blades. Those would have been awesome.

Unfortunately, even spending 5 months non stop training, my archery had not improved a bit. I _still_ couldn't hit the target, and most of the time, the arrow would fly in the opposite direction. I wanted to try a crossbow, but they didn't have any, since they thought crossbows were too slow. Ah well. At least I could use throwing knives.

Now, I was standing in front of a set of massive double bronze doors, ready to go against my last test. All the Amazons were in the arena, eager to see me fight, since I had become something of a legend among them. The doors opened, and I walked in, three short javelins strapped across my back, a belt of throwing knives, a dagger, (I had become pretty skilled with it) and of course, my dual Riptides. They were my weapons of choice. I could literally block anything with them. And I was strong enough to block a direct warhammer hit.

The Amazons were cheering like crazy, but they fell silent when Hylla stepped up to the podium.

"Amazons! You all know why he is here, so I don't need to do any of that introduction crap. However, Percy, I would like to tell you, there is a change of plans. 4 months ago actually. Athena, who has been watching over your progress, thinks that this is too easy for you. So, for your final test, you will fight against powerful monsters that we Amazons have spent much time and effort into capturing them. I sincerely wish you the best of luck, and hope that you succeed." Hylla announced. _Uh oh. Athena changed plans? This can't be good._ I thought.

"Good luck, Percy!" said a familiar voice.

I jumped slightly, and saw a younger version of Hylla sitting in a seat of honour next to Hylla's. It was Reyna.

"Um, thanks, I didn't know you were the good luck type. I thought you were more of that It-depends-on-your-skill type of person" I replied.

"Trust me, with these monsters, you'll need a lot of luck. And don't let me down, I still accept you, even if Camp Jupiter doesn't." Reyna said.

I flinched slightly. After what I had done to Octavian, Camp Jupiter thought I was a cruel, ruthless, and cold blooded torturer. They had effectively kicked me out so I couldn't go anywhere near the camp.

"Alright, enough talk, OPEN THE GATES!" Hylla's voice boomed out.

Three gates opened, and the first monster that came out was the Minotaur. _Easy_ I thought. Then the second one opened. Hydra. Crap. The third one opened. Nemean Lion. _Oh hell, Athena is really making this difficult._ I quickly readied myself, drawing Riptide and pulling the second one out of itself.

I decided to spare the Minotaur, since it being a stupid monster, could actually be helpful in taking down the other monsters. As the three Lions charged at me, I quickly ran straight into the middle, so if the Hydra spat or tried to bite me, I could jump aside and hopefully the attacks would hit the other monsters.

I had planned on trying to kill the Lion first, but it was pretty smart, it stayed back. So I decided to engage the Hydra and the Minotaur.

"Hey Beef Head, back so soon? Remember me?" I taunted. I could tell the Hydra was behind me, and that's what I was hoping for, because from my experience, the Minotaur has only one gear, which is forward. True to my hopes, the minotaur bellowed and charged, swing its Omega axe along the way. I waited until the last second, then did a flip over its head so I landed behind it just as the Hydra got into position behind me. The Minotaur slammed into the Hydra full force, and the two began attacking each other. _Well, that should give me a bit of a break_ I thought. Then I turned my attention to the Lion.

The Lion charged, swiping its razor sharp claws at me, which I barely dodged. I did a double slash with both of my swords, which would have turned it into Meow Mix, except its skin was invincible. But what I was trying to do was to make the Lion open its mouth. Or at least widen his eyes a bit. I attacked furiously, pushing the Lion back, forcing it to retreat straight into the brawl the Hydra and Minotaur were _still_ having. It just so happened that the Lion got right into the middle, right when the Minotaur and the Hydra were going to charge each other. The Lion was caught in the middle, hit on one side by a big, heavy, axe, and the other by 18 pairs of super sharp teeth.

The Lion roared with pain, even though the axe and the teeth didn't puncture its skin, there was a lot of force behind it. As the Lion roared, I took my chance. I whipped off two of the javelins on my back and threw them, both of them scored, plunging deep into the Lion's throat and brain. The Lion's eyes rolled upwards, and then it collapsed, leaving only its pelt behind. My victory didn't last long though, because the instant I killed the Lion, the Minotaur and the Hydra instantly turned their attention to me.

As the Minotaur charged, I calmly waited until the last second, then sidestepped and stuck my blade out. The Minotaur was so stupid that he continued running, and even managed a few steps when his head was loped off. Then he turned to dust. Two down, one to go. Erm, strike that,nine to go, as I looked at the Hydra's heads. I tried to remember what Hercules did, he and someone else had use fire to cauterize the stumps. _Great_ I thought, while dodging and parrying the Hydra's teeth. _Just when I need Leo, he isn't here._ I looked around frantically, searching for anything hot. Just when I decided that I might as well try to cut all seven heads off at once, I looked in Reyna's direction and realized that she had a bronze brazier in front of her. She caught me looking and gave me a wink, all while innocently eating sausage that she had just cooked. She then took a deliberate sip from a large 1 liter water bottle next to her. _Great, now I just need six more of those._ I ducked under the Hydra's guard and slash its feet off, causing it to move much slower. _Hey, wait a minute… crazy idea time…_

I aimed a large swipe at all nine of the Hydra's head, causing it to jerk backward. I then rolled underneath it, and slashed its feet off, effectively turning it into a immobile, seven headed monster. "

"Excellent, now for the ouchy part" I muttered under my breath. I sprinted towards Reyna's brazier,

"Yeah, yeah, I owe you one Reyna" I said, just loud enough for her to hear. She gave a very good impression of being indignant that I had stolen her brazier and water bottle.

And took it. Inside was a lot of coals. Red hot. I was a son of Poseidon, which meant that I had increased heat resistance, but I didn't know my limit. Carrying brazier in one hand, and Riptide in the other, I forced the water out of the bottle, and made a large ring out of it. I looped it around eight of the Hydra's neck, and leaped onto its back, and slashed one of its heads off. I quickly picked a coal up, which felt quite comfortable, and stuck it right on the bleeding neck. Instantly, the blood boiled, and a terrible stench began to fill the air. I ignored it, and began to slash the other heads off, one by one, cauterizing each one. I finally slashed off its immortal head, effectively killing it. I stepped back and looked at Hylla. She just gestured with her hand.

Once again the gates open. The first one, around 500 or so monsters came pouring out. _Sure, I can take that_ I thought. Then there was a very familiar roar that shook the entire arena. _No way.._ a drakon slithered out of the second gate. And it was the Lydian drakon, the same one that killed Silena Beauregard. A cold rage filled my heart, since Silena was like one of two Aphrodite girls that I respected. _Excellent, payback time_ I thought, even though I had no idea how to kill it, since I didn't have an electric spear to stab in its eye. I was about to charge the monsters when another familiar sound came from the third gate. It was a squeal. _Hades no…_

The Erymanthian boar came out of the gate at me so fast, it looked like it was flying. I barely had time to throw myself to the side, and the boar seemed to really hate me. It kept on swishing its canoe sized tusks back and forth, and it was all I could do to dodge them. What was worse was that the other monsters had started attacking. The drakon was smart, it just stayed still, waiting it out. _Hey, maybe I can use that to my advantage_. It was just coiled up, its thick body like a huge road block. And the spaces in between its armoured plates would be very useful as handholds.

I sprinted toward the drakon, the boar in hot pursuit, and I began running alongside the drakon until at the last minute, I jumped onto the drakon's back, and the boar smashed into the drakon's side. The good news: The boar went flying as it hit the drakon, flew through the air, and crash landed among the big group of monsters, easily taking out a couple dozen instantly. The bad news: The drakon knew I was on its back, and it was doing everything it could to toss me off.

I hung on for dear life, as the world became a crazy blur, it was almost as if you were on a rollercoaster that went a thousand miles an hour and changed direction every second. After a while, the drakon seemed to think that I had most likely flown off, and paused, taking in its surroundings. I took the chance and began to climb its back like the rock wall back at Camp. I clambered onto the top of its head and was about to stab both of its eyes when the drakon suddenly tossed his head downward. I flew down and landed with a loud thump, both of my swords flew out of nerveless fingers and a cloud of dust surrounding me. I then felt a burning sensation on my left shoulder, and realized with shock that I had landed right next to a pool of Hydra acid.

 _Hey, wait, Hydra acid!_ I thought.

The drakon towered over me, its mouth wide open, ready to snap me up. It slammed its mouth down, and I rolled, then I hurriedly whipped off my last javelin off my back, dipped it into the pool of acid, and held it straight up just as the drakon smashed his mouth down around me. The were a loud crack as the javelin shaft splintered, but I knew the head had gone deep into its throat and brain. It arched its back as its eyes smoked, the drakon gave a final scream, and collapsed into a pile of dust and scales.

"That's for killing Silena Beauregard, you disgusting snake" I said, quite proud of myself for killing the drakon.

The back of my neck tingled, and I instinctively threw myself sideways right as a pair of huge tusks came sweeping over where I had just been standing. As it stomped past me, I slashed with both of my swords, opening two large gashes on the its side. It squealed with rage and pain and swung it's tusks again. As it swung ,I ducked under the swing and held both of my swords straight up.

 _Crack crack!_

I looked up and saw a tuskless boar. My swords had chopped it off when it swung, and now all it could do was charge at me. I sidestepped, and slashed again, opening another two gashes. And so it continued, as I kept on sidestepping and slashing, while the boar got slower and slower, until it finally collapsed, wheezing. I raised my sword and swung it with all my strength. There was a squelching sound, and its head hit the ground as the rest of the body slowly dissolved. I looked up, expecting a group of monsters to attack me, but I just found a nice big pile of monster dust. Heh. Turns out the boar was pretty good at killing monsters. I turned to Hylla and she nodded.

"Percy Jackson, you have proven yourself above all other heroes. Duh. Even Hercules had to beat them one by one. So, I will give you your prize, but you must swear on the Styx that you will return it after you have shown Athena" Hylla announced.

"I swear on the Styx that I will return the girdle after I have shown it to Athena" I said. Thunder boomed, and Hylla nodded. She gave it to me, and for some reason, the Amazons cheered. They put me on their shoulders, and carried me all the way to the mess hall.

After all the celebrating, I was about to go upstairs to sleep on a nice, comfy bed one last time when a golden flash lit the room. I turned around, and saw Athena.

"Lady Athena, I do not wish to be rude, but why are you here?" I asked.

Athena gave me an evil grin, "Well, I thought I might as well help you hurry along right? You said you wanted to make it as fast as possible. So, you can hand the girdle back to Hylla, and I'll transport you to California for your, ah, last objective."

"Last objective? I thought I had two more?" I asked, rather confused.

"Yeah, well, you did have two more, but after seeing you wipe an army of Hephaestus's bronze automatons with that much ease, killing those monsters isn't a very big challenge you know. However, I can promise you that your last objective will be harder than anything you have ever gone through."

I gulped. Harder than all those ancient monsters together? That doesn't sound good. "What's that." I asked.

Athena's eyes glinted, "Well, I want you to take a Golden Apple from the Garden of the Hesperides. _By your own hand."_

Everyone but me and Nico looked shocked. Nico had the I-already-knew-about-this look, while I was still trying to figure out what Athena meant. Then it hit me. I gasped.

"Y-you want me to kill…? I stuttered.

Athena's eyes were deadly serious. "Yes"


	4. Chapter 4

**Percy**

"So Jackson, get a good rest, a nice breakfast, I'll let you stock up on weapons and you can use your powers, alright? Like I said, I don't want you dead. Meet you at noon, outside of the store. So, good night" Athena said.

With that cheerful thought, she vanished in a flash of light. Everyone was staring at me with a mix of pity, horror and fear. Pity cause I have to kill Ladon, horror cause I'm most likely gonna get ripped to bits, and fear because Athena thinks I can do it. I myself was glaring at the place where Athena had just disappeared. Why couldn't she tell me this _after_ I woke up? Nooo, its 'Hey, go kill the strongest monster to ever live, undefeated, and get a good sleep!' How am I supposed to sleep after that?

Suddenly, all the Amazons began crying and sobbing, while I looked on in shock. Then I heard snippets, like, "Percy's gonna die!" or "How can Athena be that mean?"

"QUIET!" Reyna and Hylla bellowed together.

Everyone instantly shut up and looked at the two, even though they were still wiping their cheeks.

"Look, while I must admit that the chances of surviving an encounter with Ladon is slim, there's a chance. He's not the greatest hero to ever walk this Earth for no reason." Hylla said.

Reyna nodded. "His skills are unmatched, and he's a Son of Poseidon, and it's kinda close to the sea there, so he could call on its power if he must."

"So, let us put those three in our executive rooms, and we shall help Percy with his equipment, supplies, everything and send him off with our best wishes." Hylla announced.

The Amazons gave a cheer again, and picked all three of us up, and carried us to a huge room that had three doors in it.

"The rooms are identical, just super comfy, ultra quiet, with all the amenities you could ever wish for. We'll wake you at around eight ok Percy?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot Hylla, and you, Reyna." I said, still in a slight shock that I had to find some way to kill Ladon.

They gave a nod, and turned to walk out, but before they could leave, Kinzie whirled around and asked me, "Are you sure you don't want a massage? I mean, you'd probably be all tense right?"

"Kinzie, not now, he's not in the mood" Hylla said, grabbing Kinzie's arm and pulling her out.

I took a shower and crashed onto bed, surprisingly, I fell asleep quickly. And I had one of the weirdest dreams ever.

 _I was walking among the stars, staring at the universe I had created, thinking on just how bad some planets were, and how good some others. He turned his attention to Earth, the first planet he had created and started with life. Now_ that _planet intrigued him. Not the fight between the gods and the titans, not the mortals, who were destroying the planet they were living. No, what intrigued him was a demigod called Perseus Jackson. He had defeated the titans, the giants, and defied Gaea and all he asked for his reward was an extra sword and two thrones for two gods. He felt a deep amount of respect for him, and sincerely wished that he could recruit him and ask him to be his successor. He was powerful, and extremely skilled, even though his upcoming fight with Ladon would prove to be his hardest. He was pondering on whether to enter his dream when Zoe Nightshade, a recently made constellation, came up to him and begged him to allow him to enter the young demigods dream. I nodded, and as she shot down towards Earth, I realized with a start that Percy had just witnessed and heard all my thoughts!_

 _"Well, Perseus Jackson, I must admire you for your ability to see, hear, and think what I'm thinking. But now you must go, for that Zoe girl is going to give you advice, but know this:_ I will recruit you and make you my successor, even if I have to wait several more millennia. Even though your life is not mine to decide, its the Fates, but I will be waiting for you. _Now, off you go._

 _He waved his hand, and I was instantly transported into a pitch black room, with a girl in silvery hunter's clothes waiting._

 _"Percy Jackson"_

 _"Zoe Nightshade. Long time no see" I replied._

 _She smiled, "I do not have much time, boy, but I know that you need to defeat Ladon in order for you to prove your love to that Annabeth girl. I don't have much time, so I'll tell you this: Don't give him any warning that you are going to attack him, just go and make a surprise attack. You'll need all the advantages you can get. Try to cut off his tail first, it is a very deadly weapon. Also,_ do not _attempt to fight him with brute strength only, you must use trickery and cunning. Which leads to my last advice:_ He is ordered to guard the tree and the apples with his life. _Remember that, Jackson. It will help you. Especially if you use your water abilities. And don't try to crush him like you did with Porphyrion, it is useless."_

 _"Um, alright, thanks for telling me this, but why are you telling me how to defeat Ladon? I thought you hated men?" I asked._

 _"I do hate men. But you, you are an exception, you are a male worth saving. And a last request: Please, don't kill Ladon, as long as you cut down all the heads until only one remains, you will have won. He will obey you without question. Please, don't kill him, I still love the dragon." Zoe more or less begged._

 _"Alright Zoe, I'll try to kill him, if he doesn't kill me first, that is." I said._

 _Zoe smiled, and disappeared in a swirl of stars._

I woke with a start, and looking at the clock, realized that it was almost eight a.m. and hurriedly took a shower and dressed in comfy jeans and a t shirt that said 'Death to Green Day'. I grinned. This was sure to piss Thalia off.

I walked out of the room, and promptly bumped into Nico, who was about to knock on my door to wake me up.

"Oh good, you're awake, c'mon, I don't want those Amazons to start swarming over us." He said. Then he stopped and looked at my shirt.

"Oh gods, um, I think I'll go by myself alright?" With that, he ran off to the mess hall. I grinned again. This was going to get an excellent reaction from Thalia. I walked over to her room and knocked on the door. There was a scuffling sound, and the door opened to reveal Thalia dressed in hunters garb, her head bobbing to a song she was listening to. Thalia gave me a cheerful smile,

"Hey Percy I can't wait to see you get your as- WHAT IN HADES ARE YOU WEARING?" she screamed. Her eyes, just moments ago a bright electric blue, instantly turned into a harsh laser blue, glaring at me as if I'd killed her grandma.

"Whoa Thals, calm down, I'm just wearing a shirt." I said.

"JUST A SHIRT? I DEMAND THAT YOU TAKE IT OFF JACKSON!" She shrieked.

I laughed. "uh uh. No way. I love your reaction too much to take off my shirt. And do you mean to change my shirt? I don't think Artemis'll be happy if I take off my shirt you know." I replied, smirking.

Thalia blushed an intense red, and tried to cover it up by growling "Fine, change your shirt, whatever, but don't you dare wear that again in front of me."

"Or what. You gonna shock me?"

Thalia gave me a super sweet smile that instantly creeped me out. "No. I'm going to follow you around the whole time, everywhere, forcing you to listen to 'Jam' or 'Friday'."

I paled. The last time I had annoyed Thalia, she had literally followed me _everywhere,_ even when I was making out with Annabeth, she'd pop out playing 'Friday' or 'Jam' on her iPod, full blast.

"Alright, alright, I'll go change my shirt. Just please don't play those awful songs." I said.

Thalia smirked. "Get going, Seaweed Brain."

Resignedly, I went into my room and changed into a sea green shirt. I walked out, and Thalia nodded. We walked to the mess halls, and sat down on either side of Nico, who gave me a questioning look when he saw me wearing the sea green shirt instead of the Death to Green Day shirt.

"I changed my shirt because Thalia, being a mean huntress, bullied me into changing it" I whined, while smiling at the same time.

Nico smirked. "What did Thalia threaten you with?"

"I said that I'd follow him everywhere, playing 'Jam' and 'Friday' full blast." Thalia said with a triumphant grin.

Nico shuddered. "Wow, I'd rather face my dad when he's grumpy than listen to those songs. Hey, that can be used as a punishment in the Underworld!"

"Glad I could be of use Nico… " I mumbled while just poking at my food.

"Hey, Hylla's going to speak, let's see what she's gonna give you eh? Thalia said.

That was true. A Amazon tapped a gong, and everyone instantly quieted down.

"Amazons, as you know, Percy Jackson must go and face Ladon in his quest to prove his love." At this, Reyna rolled her eyes and muttered just loud enough, "Any blind idiot can see he loves Annabeth"

"Reyna, while I agree with your sentiments, it would be better if you stay silent, since you most likely insulted the wisdom goddess seeing as you more or less called her a blind idiot" Hylla glared at Reyna.

Reyna merely mumbled a few words in Latin that made Hylla glare at her even more. Finally she gave up.

"Whatever, now, while Athena has said that our young hero cannot receive any help from his companions, doesn't mean that we can't give him a belt of greek fire throwing knives. Or miniature jars of greek fire. Or nectar and ambrosia." Hylla smiled. "Come on up and get your stuff, Jackson"

I walked up and Hylla gave me a belt that that had many, many daggers and a couple of vials on them. I took them and strapped them to my waist.

"Be careful with those daggers. The blade is coated in a thin layer of greek fire, once it hits something, it'll explode. So try not to bump them around. And those vials are plain greek fire. Pretty explosive."

"So, basically, I'm armed with a exploding knives and a couple of grenades that explode on impact" I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jackson, that's what you're armed with. And all of your supplies for healing and whatnot are in that bag. We'll send you out, and if you succeed, stop by before you go to your Camp, will you?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course I will, if I do succeed, it's all thanks to your training." I said.

The Amazons cheered again and made some sort of honour guard as we walked up to their "store". Athena was already there, waiting, with a strange expression. Worried? Excitement? I couldn't tell.

"Hello Percy, you had a good night's rest?" She asked in a slightly stiff tone. Did she intercept my dream? Did she know that Zoe had given me tips on defeating Ladon? Or that creepy, big dude, who I _thought_ was Chaos had talked to me? I kept my face as neutral as possible when I answered.

"yeah, well enough." I mumbled.

"Very well. I will transport you to the mountain, and then you will choose where to attack." Athena said.

The Amazons instantly began crushing me with hugs and words, like "Bye Percy" or "I hope I'll see you again". I even saw a couple of Amazons hug Nico. Kinzie tackled me with a hug that I tried to squirm out of, while Hylla and Reyna clapped me on the shoulders.

"What's the point in saying good bye when we'll see each other again, eh?" Reyna said.

"No point. That's why I'm going to say see you later" I replied, smiling slightly.

"That's the spirit, Percy" Hylla said.

"Alright you three, ready?" Athena asked. We nodded. She clapped her hands, and we were once again blinded by the golden light. This time, when the light faded, none of us even felt like throwing up.

"You are very close to the garden, so I bid you luck and farewell for now." Athena said. And with that, she vanished in a flash of light.

I looked at Thalia and Nico, who just looked back at me.

"Well, I guess this is it. It's been nice knowing you guys." I said.

"Don't talk like that! We'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes." Thalia said.

"Yeah, even if I feel your soul in the Underworld, I ain't moving anywhere, even if the gods come to move me." Nico said stubbornly.

I was quite touched and very grateful to have such good friends.

"Thanks guys, I'll be back before you know it." I said, trying to sound confident.

Suddenly, Thalia tackled me in a tight hug, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Don't leave me alone, Seaweed Brain." She said.

I blushed. "Artemis is gonna turn me into a jackalope.."

"Nope, she won't, she'll understand this situation." Thalia replied with a defiant look.

Nico gave me a hug, "Don't leave me either, you're my closest friend."

I gave him a small grin, "Even if I die, you'll just see me again in the Underworld, right?"

"That's not what I mea-!"

"I know you meant, Nico, and believe, that meant a lot. Well, I got an appointment to keep, so see you guys later." I said, walking off towards the garden.

I walked as carefully and quietly as I could, so as not to alert the Hesperides that I had arrived. When I got in sight of the Garden, I quickly ducked behind a bush and did a short recon of it. To my slight delight, I noticed that Ladon's tail was only 50 some feet away. The bad news was that Ladon was awake. And gods, his breath smelled terrible. It smelled like all things rotten mixed together, with a slight touch of sickly sweet mint. Ugh. Seeing that he was awake, and having witnessed his reaction times before, I decided to use the ocean to temporarily crush and stun him while I went in to cut off that tree trunk thick tail. I silently pulled out both of my Riptides, and concentrated on the ocean.

I felt it all around me, and I willed it to come over to where I was and come crashing down. I felt a tug in my gut, and a massive, airborne tidal wave came in, destroying almost everything, except for the tree, which I had made a temporary shield for it. The instant the wave hit, I leaped forward, swing my left hand sword with all my strength. It sank deep into the tail, near the rump, about halfway down, then I quickly pulled it out and hacked at it with my other sword. I finally cut straight through, and the tail fell, the wound spurting with black blood.

There was a loud roar that shook the ground, and probably carried all the way to Olympus, and Ladon whirled around, its one hundred heads spitting poison, death, and a really, really bad breath. Dang, he needed breath mints. Without a second thought, I leaped forward, swing both of my swords at high speed, slashing off four heads with relative ease since he was still a bit surprised.

 _Yay! 96 heads to go!_ I thought. Then Ladon began attacking so fast, it felt as if I were fighting Kronos times 100. _Oh hell…_ I thought as I barely dodged a couple dozen pair of teeth that would have ripped me apart. I rolled, and decided to keep moving, that way it would also have to keep moving. The bad thing was that I forgot how long Ladon's necks were. As I leapt into the air and did an aerial strike, one his heads slammed into me so hard I created a miniature crater when I landed. If it hadn't been for the fact that I took the lightning bolt for Artemis and nearly broke all my bones when I hit the side of that mountain, I was pretty sure I wouldn't have survived this blow.

I gave a slight groan and rolled away instinctively, just as Ladon's teeth snapped mere centimeters away from my body. I leaped up, and decided to close in, since if his neck was so long, it might tangle him if I went closer. I pushed forward, and since Ladon was spitting poison and snapping and attacking almost everywhere at once, I decided to use my last stance that I had learned from the Amazons. I called it the 360. 360 degrees of offense and defense at once. It was only good when you were surrounded. Such as this case. I attacked like a whirlwind, while Ladon fought right back like a tornado. I cut everywhere, causing black blood to fly through the air, while the air itself was thick with poison, since my swords were magical, they weren't affected by the poison, so the poison just flew right back at Ladon due to the speed I was swinging the swords.

I was making progress, but I knew that I couldn't last much longer, because this type of attack required _lots_ of energy. And I still had about seventy some heads to go through. I lunged forward, attempting to attack the base of its neck, where all the other heads sprouted from. That I did, taking off ten heads with both of swords, but unfortunately, I forgot about Ladon's foot.

His clawed foot slammed into me, crushing me against the ground with so much force that I sank two inches into the ground and stars began swimming in my eyesight. Stars! Zoe Nightshade! I almost forgot what she told me about using water powers to distract Ladon! And what was the other clue? _He is ordered to guard the tree with his life._ As I blinked my eyes, I saw the remaining 60 or so heads hissing over me, ready to bite my head off. I thought fast, and concentrated on the water around me, and willed it into a warrior shape, moved it right next to the tree, and made a hand out of water as if to pluck an apple off. Just as Ladon was about to bite my head off, one of the Hesperides screamed.

Ladon instantly leaped off me, and lunged towards the warrior. Success! I now knew Ladon's weakness thanks to Zoe! I took the opportunity to jump up, took three Greek fire throwing knives in each of my hands, and threw it, aiming for the base of its many necks. As it hit, six large balls of Greek fire burst into life, burning up at least twenty of Ladon's heads. Ladon screamed, and instantly came at me, I leaped backwards, and made my water warrior rush forward, and Ladon whirled around to attack it. I grinned. Once you know the monsters weakness, it's too easy. I calmly took out six knives, and threw them at the same spot. Again, the burst of Greek fire, and another ten or so heads fell to the ground, burnt up. Now Ladon had about thirty heads, but he was smart. He split his attention, so that fifteen took my water warrior, and the other fifteen came at me. Time for a new approach. I deflected Ladon's poison and teeth, and summoned more water. I quickly made an Atlas like water giant, complete with a large spear, and made it stomp towards the tree. When Ladon saw it, he hesitated.

That was all I needed. I quickly pulled out all of the Greek fire vials on my belt, and tossed it underneath Ladon. Then, I broke down the water Atlas, and used it to shoot me up. I did a flip, so my swords were pointing downwards. I slammed into Ladon, both of my swords piercing his huge body, let go of my swords and quickly jumped off. Not a moment too soon. The force with which I landed on him was great enough that his body sank to the ground, enough to crack the Greek fire vials. A large explosion of Greek fire sent Ladon flying up several feet, and I took the chance to slice off four more heads. Ladon landed on his side, and I could see how hideously charred his underside was. I collected all the water around me, and threw it at Ladon, slamming into him with enough force to topple him over. I leapt in and slashed and hacked as fast as I could, black blood staining the water, I then leapt backwards, drew back my arms, and let both of my swords fly straight into him. Ladon roared, and attempted to fight through my water cloud. I began throwing my knives as fast as I could, sending them in one after another, until my belt was completely empty. I paused, panting, my muscles on fire. There was silence. No roaring, no stomping, not even a whiff of smelly breath. I approached cautiously, pulling out both Riptides. What I saw surprised me. Ladon's massive body was terribly burned, and large parts seemed to have completely burnt off. I looked at the base of his necks and to my surprise, only one head remained. The rest were badly burnt stumps that gave off a rancid smell. When Ladon saw me, he cowered and whimpered, slowly retreating.

"You have won against Ladon, Perseus Jackson" a voice said.

I whirled around and found the Hesperides staring at me with a mix of hate, awe, and fear.

"How do I know that he won't bite me from behind?" I asked.

"He knows you have the power to destroy him. Which means that he will follow any order you give him. In his eyes, you rank even higher than Atlas himself." A Hesperide replied.

"Oh. So you mean I can go pick an Golden Apple( **Lol, reminds of those 24k gold plated Apple MacBooks)**?" I asked.

"No. Not yet. You must swear by the Styx that you will not eat the Apple unless given permission from the gods. Then you may pick as many as you wish." She replied.

"Alright. I swear on the River Styx that I will not eat a Golden Apple from the Garden of the Hesperides without the permission of the gods." I said.

Thunder boomed, and the Hesperides nodded.

"You may pick as many as you wish, and should you want to, you can always come back here later to pick more. I suggest you pick all there is on the tree, since it takes a long time for them to grow."

I walked up to the tree, a strange giddiness over me. I could finally date Annabeth! I was so happy. I was about to pick the apples, when I realized I didn't have a bag. I turned.

"Um, do you have a bag?" I asked, embarrassed.

"No need, here you god, Jackson." Another voice said behind me.

I turned and found Lady Athena standing there. The Hesperides and I bowed.

"Well, Jackson, you have proved yourself worthy of Annabeth, so I give you full permission to court her, propose, Hades, even marry her." She said, handing me a bag.

I looked at her and said with true gratitude, "Thank you, Lady Athena. This means a lot to me." I turned to the tree, and counted, there were sixteen Golden Apples. I carefully reached up and plucked them all from the branches, putting them carefully in the bag.

"Finished, Lady Athena. What should I do with the apples?" I asked.

"Keep them. I'll shrink the bag's size, so that it's not noticeable, and you can decide what to do with them. Just remember, whoever eats those apples, will turn into an immortal." Athena said. She waved her hand, and my bag shrunk into a tiny, palm sized little bag that I could easily hook onto my belt.

"Wait, he did not kill Ladon for fame? He was doing it for love?" A Hesperide asked. ( **I don't know Old English, so yeah…)**

Athena nodded. "He has earned my approval, and I think that my dear Annabeth will have a very good boyfriend. Although I hate to admit it, she is very lucky. Perseus here is the first Barnacle Beard's spawn that I actually approve of."

I blushed. "Thanks Athena." I said Then I asked," Lady Athena, I have a favor to ask of you actually."

Athena narrowed her eyes just slightly, and asked, "What."

"Well, now that Ladon is defeated, could you protect, or at least keep an eye out on the tree? And can you also keep the fact that I defeated Ladon secret? Because if word goes out, a LOT of people will come over here and take advantage of Ladon's temporary incapacitation." I explained.

Athena had a thoughtful look on her face. "Yes, that is an excellent idea. I will keep my lips sealed on the Styx, and so shall you, yes?"

"I swear on the Styx that I am not going to let anyone else know that Ladon is defeated." I said. Thunder rolled and the oath was made.

"And of course, you cannot let anyone know that you have the Apples. Not even Nico or Thalia. Oh, and I'll take care of the Amazons, don't worry." Athena said.

"Of course" I replied.

"Well, Percy Jackson, perhaps we were mistaken of you, you truly are a hero. We thank you for your consideration and generosity" The Hesperides told me, bowing slightly.

"No problem." I said, smiling. I turned to Athena. "Alright, since I'm finished, I wanna go back home and yeah, you know."

Athena nodded and snapped her fingers. Golden light washed over us, and we materialized in front of Thalia and Nico, who were staring at the Garden, wide eyed. They shrieked when we appeared, then both of them gave me Ladon strong hugs.

"Oh my gods Percy, I swear that I have never been that worried before in my life!" Thalia practically screamed in my ear.

Even Nico was too happy to give me a "man hug", deciding to crush me in a huge hug instead.

"So, did you get an Apple?" Nico asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I picked an apple off, Athena came, gave me her approval, then took the apple with her." I lied, feeling slightly guilty that I was lying to two of my closest friends.

"Oh, and also, for security reasons, I need you two to swear on the River Styx that you won't tell anyone that I defeated Ladon or that Ladon has been defeated, ok?" I asked.

"I swear" both of them said. Thunder boomed again.

Athena spoke up. "Well, now that your reunion is complete, I'll teleport you three to the Amazons, so you can tell them that you are alright, since they _are_ quite worried. Camp is currently eating dinner, and I suspect that you don't want to propose to Annabeth in front of everyone, so once you are done talking to the Amazons, Nico can shadow travel you and Thalia to camp."

"Thank you, Lady Athena" all three of us said, bowing.

Athena nodded, raised her hand, and then lowered it. "I forgot Jackson, you cannot properly propose to Annabeth without a ring, so, here you go."

She tossed me a box, and inside, was a fantastic ring, made of Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold mixed together, and a very sparkly looking stone that had grey and green mixing beautifully together. On the inside of the band, was the inscription, _Yours, forever and after. Seaweed Brain_.

I looked up, trying to form words, but failing miserably.

Athena gave me a true smile. "You deserve it, Jackson. And don't thank me, thank Hephaestus, he made it himself." Before I could say anything, she snapped her fingers, and we were instantly transported in front of the Amazon store. We had barely gotten our sense together when there was a _lot_ of screaming. We were instantly yanked into the store as blinds rolled down the windows, and the lights turned on. We were surrounded by Amazons, and they were screaming like crazy, saying things like 'OH MY GOD, HE'S ALIVE', and 'I KNEW HE WOULDN'T FAIL' it was so loud, my eardrums almost got blown out.

"Alright everyone, I'm delighted to see you guys also, but can you please be quiet!" I yelled.

Instantly, everyone quieted down, even though they were still staring at me. Not knowing what to say, I turned to Reyna.

"Well, I'm back. Didn't let you down, did I?" I asked, with a grin crossing my face.

Reyna walked towards me, slapped my face, then pulled me into a hug.

"Glad to see your whole body, Percy, not just bits of you." She said, smiling.

I rubbed my cheek. "Did you have to hit that hard?" I whined.

She rolled her eyes. "You want me to hit hard?"

"Eh, no thanks." I said, hurriedly.

She smirked. "Thought so."

Hylla came over and gave me a hug too. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad you're alive, Jackson. If anyone told me that a year ago, I'd say they needed to get their heads checked." She said, grinning.

Kinzie came over, a hopeful look on her face. "Give me a kiss?" She asked, puckering her lips.

I merely gave her the you-think-I'm-going-to look, and she pulled me into an extremely tight hug instead.

I quickly detangled myself from her, and addressed Hylla.

"I know that we just go back, but I'm afraid that I have to go back to camp. I've been away for a while, and well, don't think I can wait much longer. I hope you understand." I said, in a slight pleading tone.

Hylla nodded. "Of course. You've stayed with us for a long time, and that was enough fun for like, another century. But if you have time, come visit us, won't you?" She asked.

The room was instantly full of 'Yes!' and 'Please visit us!'.

"Yeah, don't worry, if I manage to find some time, I'll definitely come visit." I said.

The Amazons cheered, and I excused myself, Thalia and Nico.

We walked outside, and Nico said "Alright, hold tight, this is gonna be real fun." Giving us a wicked grin.

I grabbed Nico's hand, and Thalia took hold of my arm with a vice like grip. Suddenly, everything disappeared, and I could literally feel myself zooming across the country. I saw buildings, fields, animals, the Sears tower, a lake, and then we were at the bottom of Half Blood Hill.

"Wow. That was actually pretty cool." Thalia said. I had to agree. Before we could say anything more, the hair on the back of my neck rose, and I whirled around, drawing my two Riptides. Nico and Thalia followed suit, Thalia with her bow and arrow, and Nico with his Stygian Iron sword. We formed a small circle, watching warily.

"Who's there! Show yourself!" I commanded.

"Rather rude, aren't you, young man." A female voice said.

"Yes! Very rude! Even though you can't blame him, since we _did_ surprise him." A very familiar voice cackled out.

"Lady Artemis? Mrs. Dodds?" I asked, uncertainly.

Out of the woods near us, the hunters sprang out, with Artemis at the front, and Mrs. Dodds cackling overhead.

"Well, Thalia, haven't seen you in five months and a week. Had fun with the Amazons?" Artemis asked.

"Erm, yes, my lady. Very fun." Thalia stammered out.

"I can only guess at what type of fun they'd do…" Artemis muttered. "Anyways, you are five months behind on your training and chores, so say your good byes and hurry up."

Thalia blushed, gave me a last hug, and said "Good luck with your proposal, Kelp Head"

"Yeah, thanks, see you later too, Pinecone Face."

Artemis gave me a nod, and the hunters and Thalia disappeared in a flash of light.

"Well, Nico boy, your father is quite grumpy that he has had to patrol the Underworld without your help. So I suggest you hurry up too, before he calls Persephone in to turn you into a tulip." Mrs. Dodds said.

Nico paled, and gave me a handshake. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, Perce, see you later when I have time."

"Bye Nico, and thanks for your companionship."

Nico nodded, and he and Mrs. Dodds melted into blackness, and disappeared.

I gave a small sigh and stretched. _Annabeth, here I come._


	5. Chapter 5

_Tonight is going to be the best night ever"_ I thought, as I walked up the hill and past the tree. While training with the Amazons was fun, Camp Half Blood would always be my home. And I missed it. I stood at the top of the hill, surveying camp for a little bit, watching as people began to disperse from the campfire. I was about to walk down when a Iris Message appeared before me. It was Nico.

"Hey Nico, didn't know your dad would let you off the hook that fast.

Nico shuddered. "Well, he didn't exactly let me off, but instead of doing one year of patrol, I only need to do six months!"

"Erm, why is your dad being so nice?" I asked.

"Haha, because I mentioned that listening to 'Friday' and 'Jam' would be good as eternal punishment. He's drowning himself in nectar and alcohol right now because it was so bad. So, I have you to thank for cutting my punishment in half, even though accompanying you got me there in the first place."

I laughed. "Nah, don't thank me, thank Thalia. She's the one that mentioned it."

There was a crashing sound in the back, and yelling. Nico's eyes widened. "Oh crap, I think Dad's destroying all the music players, I gotta go and stop him before he attacks my stuff! Bye!" He waved his hands through the mist, and the connection cut.

Hehe. That was funny. The mortals were making their own punishments.

I walked down and went straight to the Big house. I met Chiron when I was half way there.

"Percy, my boy, you're back! I take it your, ah, quest was successful?" Chiron asked

"Um, how did you know? But to answer your question, is was extremely successful" I replied, smiling happily.

"Athena told me that you went on a "quest". And I can only think of a few things that Athena would want you to do. So I put two and two together, and I get four!" Chiron said, grinning.

"That figures. Where's Annabeth?" I asked.

Suddenly, he turned away from me, shifting just slightly so that I couldn't stare at him straight in his eyes.

"I don't know, why don't you go to the Athena cabin and ask them? She's been extremely busy lately" Chiron replied.

I had an uneasy feeling, but I brushed it off. "Alright, thanks Chiron" I said. I walked off, heading straight to the Athena cabin, greeting my old friends and new campers as I walked there. They were all quite surprised to see me. As I reached the Athena cabin, I noticed that the owls eyes seemed to move and follow me. Maybe it was just my imagination. I knocked, and Malcolm, Annabeth's second in command, opened the door.

"Hey Percy, long time no see, where you been?" he asked.

"I was on a quest, so to speak, Athena gave it to me herself, and forbade me to tell anyone even though I think Chiron knows about it" I replied. "Where's Annabeth? Chiron told me to ask you guys, he said that she was very busy"

Malcolm's eyes suddenly dropped, and he fidgeted. "Annabeth? Oh right, she gave me this letter to give to you when you came back" he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out the envelope.

"Ah ok, thanks Malcolm".

"I suggest you go to the beach to read it, you seem to be attracting a lot of attention…"

"Will do". In all honesty, I was rather disappointed, this wasn't how I envisioned myself of talking and meeting with Annabeth, but I went to the beach, and slit open the envelope and read the letter:

 _Dear Percy,_

 _Where have you been these past few months? Chiron says he doesn't know, even though I am willing to swear on the Styx that he knows, and he doesn't wish to tell me. And mother just says that I'll know in time. You're not cheating on me, are you?_

 _Percy, I also would like you to know that I've decided to break our relationship. I just feel that it was never the same as it was before, after you were gone for eight months, and now, you've disappeared again. The other reason is because I have accepted an architect contract from Greece, where they've hired me to help rebuild and redesign the Parthenon! The contract is for three years, Percy, and I'm not sure whether I would be able to stay faithful to you, and that our relationship could withstand such a strain. So I want to break our relationship now, so that you don't have to suffer later on._

 _I hope we can still be friends and maybe even get back together._

 _Love,_

 _Annabeth._

I felt like as if someone had slammed a red hot dagger repeatedly into my heart. It felt twisted, broken, ripped apart. "No…" I muttered. "This isn't possible, everything I've done, and you _leave me?_ " I whispered incredulously. The waves crashed against the sandy shores, and the sky darkened. " _How? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME ANNABETH!"_ I screamed as my pain and sadness turn into raw fury. I was oblivious to the fact that a massive thunderstorm was brewing, and it was beginning to rain heavily. Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed, only adding to my anger.

" _EVERYTHING I'VE DONE, AND IT WAS FOR_ NOTHING!" "I hope we can still be friends… and _maybe even get back together…._ I hissed. "I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU, EVER AGAIN! I screamed into the air. Tears running down my face, I yelled, and gave full vent to all my emotions, of anger, hurt, pain, rage. A hurricane sprang to life, while several tornadoes touched down, ripping up the ground, knocking down trees, all the water in sight instantly exploded, and a wave of pure force shot from me, blowing everything up in a 50 yard radius. I gave another scream, and everything was increased tenfold. The ground shook, and I could hear lots of screaming and crashing sounds. Gradually, I let it down, and sank to my knees, crying. I stayed that way until I could hear people scrambling over to the beach to see what had caused it. I stood up, and surveyed the damage with a bit of shock. The ground around me had massive, deep cracks, so deep that I could see bits of magma bubbling underneath. A crater had formed when I unleashed my anger, and I knew that the dryads would be really angry with me. A massive part of the forest had been completely trashed, trees and dirt lying all over the place. Deep trenches had been dug where the tornadoes had touched down. _Crap, I hope the gods don't punish me for this._ I thought. The campers were getting closer, so I quickly ran into what was left of the forest and headed for my cabin.

Once in my cabin, the first thing that hit me were the pictures. Pictures of me and Annabeth, sitting together, holding hands, smiling happily. A cold rage filled my heart, and I whipped out Riptide, slashing blindly at the pictures, careful to keep pictures of me, Thalia, Nico, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Reyna, and others separate. When I finished cutting my pictures up, I gave a groan. In my anger to cut up the pictures, I had also scored really deep gashes in the wood so that it now looked as if a rabid bear had attack it. Ah well. I flopped onto the bed, face first, then yelped when I felt something hard pressing against me near the hip. I hastily leapt up, wary that maybe the Stoll's had done something, or the dryads had put a lump of centipedes in my bed. I cautiously yanked back the covers and found it to be clean. Then I look down at my waist and found a small bag hanging off the belt of my jeans. With a start, I remembered that they contained the sixteen apples that I had taken from the garden. Thinking about the garden made me sad again, and I carefully lay myself down on the bed, so that I wouldn't crush the apples. Before I knew it, I fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, I woke up when it was almost lunch time. I decided to skip it and went straight to the sword arena. It was a place that, like the beach, always calmed me down. As I walked there, I realized just how much damage had been done from my tantrum. Parts of the climbing wall had cracked and broken, and half of the Demeter cabin had fallen apart. I began to feel guilty and quickly took out the training dummies. I then decided to practice my moves, doing backwards stabs, aerial hits, scissor kicks, and of course, improving my stamina for the 360.

After ripping apart the 300th dummy, I noticed that it was getting dark so I decided to take a break even though I really didn't need it. The dummies were just too easy, and posed no challenge at all. I took a water bottle, drank half of it, and dumped the rest over my head. _I wish Frank, Hazel and the others were here._ I thought. Then at least, I could have someone to talk to. But nope, they had moved to Camp Jupiter, since that Camp Jupiter openly welcomed Jason and the others with open arms, and closed me off after what I did to Octavian. We still Iris Messaged each other, but you couldn't exactly rant on an IM. Especially having to pay drachmas every five minutes. I was deep in thought when the conch horn sounded three times, which meant that there were monsters attacking the camp.

The whole camp instantly rushed to Thalia's tree, to see a man with a tan, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shirts. Wait, that's my dad! What's he doing with that kid next him? Everyone saw that they were being chased by only 3 dracaene, which made most of them laugh.

The boy next to him had black hair like me, but his eyes were a cruel, dull, green. My father and him ran up the hill, until one of the dracaene caught up and grabbed his shoulder. He screamed, and drew a sword that hung from his belt and slashed in a wild, hilarious move. Lucky for him, it connected with the dracaene's neck, and exploded into dust. The second and third one gave a scream of rage, and leapt at him. Idiocy saved him. He rushed forward, and tripped on his feet, accidentally slashing a monster leg. Dust. Then the last dracaene leapt on him, and he just held the sword in front of him like a spear, and the dracaene impaled itself on the sword. Stupid monster.

The kid began smirking and had a smug look on his face.

"Did you see that, father?" he said. "Three monsters, all by myself, without any training" he said, all smug and proud looking.

 _Oh hell, I've got a pompous brat for a brother…_ I thought. Then Poseidon walked up in front of everyone, and announced loudly, "This is my son Matthew, he's 15 years old, and looks like he knows how to fight. So treat him nicely." Matthew stood there, all proud looking, as everyone bowed. Except me. I walked up to Poseidon.

"Dad, why didn't you claim him when he was thirteen? You were supposed to" I asked.

"Shut it. It does not matter when I claim him, I've been keeping an eye on him ever since he was born. And make sure you treat him nicely, Perseus." My father snapped at me. I was shocked, and hurt. He had never talked to me like this before, not with his harsh eyes, and abrupt body language. _Looks like I've been replaced already…_ I thought sadly. I watched as he gave Matthew a hug, and disappear into sea mist. Everyone was already complimenting him on how he killed three dracaene without any training, treating him as if he were already a hero. It was too much for me to take in, first, I do all those things that Athena wanted me to do, then Annabeth dumps me, and now, my dad treats me like trash and I've got a egoistic, stuck up half-brother. I ran to the beach, ignoring Chiron's surprisingly cold and stiff welcoming words and the horn that sounded the time for dinner.

As I walked back, I was reluctant to go to my cabin and meet my brother so I decided to join the camp sing along. When I arrived, everyone was already leaving, barely glancing at me, all tagging along behind Matthew. _Ridiculous kissy ups and lapdogs_ I thought angrily. The fire was still burning, so I decided to sit beside it, and think on just how upside down my world had turned.

"What ails you, young hero" a female voice asked me.

I flinched, not expecting anyone to still be around. Then I turned and saw a eight year old girl with a simple brown dress sitting in the fire, staring at me with cozy eyes and a warm smile.

"Lady Hestia, I'm sorry, I was thinking, what did you say?" I said.

"I sense that you are distraught, what is bothering you young hero?" she asked.

I sighed. "I've lost almost all my ties with this world, my girlfriend dumped me, my father more or less disowned me, and my closest friends have moved to Camp Jupiter. Nico is busy, and Thalia's with the Hunters. I won't be able to talk to them for at least half a year. " I said. "Anyone can see that Matthew is going to be the "next big thing". There isn't much point of living anymore, except for my mother. She's the only thing that's keeping me here". "Most of my true, old friends are in the Underworld. I personally think that being dead would be more fun." Tears were coming to my eyes again, and I angrily wiped them away. Hestia looked at me with sadness and pity, then she asked me something that shocked me.

"Percy Jackson, how would you like to be my champion?" Hestia asked.

"Y-your champion?" I stuttered.

"Yes, as Jason is Hera's champion, you can be my champion and I will be your patron" Hestia explained, smiling kindly at me.

Without hesitation, I accepted, "I would be honoured to be your champion, Lady Hestia."

"The honour is mine, actually. Now, since I am your patron, that means you now have quite a bit control over fire. Take my hand, and I will officially make you my champion."

I reached over, and held her hand. I felt a powerful warmth wash over me, and then pins and needles began going throughout my body. Suddenly, it stopped and my hands burst into green flames, and my eyes felt hot. Hestia smiled and gave me a wink, "You should be glad that Aphrodite weren't here, or she'd swoon over you right now."

"Erm, why? And why do my eyes feel hot?" I asked. "Here" she said, pulling a mirror out of nowhere. I held the mirror in front of me, and looked at my reflection. I was shocked, my eyes were pits of flames, like Hestia's, but my eyes were a green flame.

"Um, is there any way to keep my eyes normal?" I asked.

"Yes, you just have to think about it" she replied.

I concentrated, and my eyes returned to its normal sea green colour.

"Thank you Lady Hestia"

"You are most welcome, Perseus. I suggest that you practice your flame powers daily, and to ask the Hephaestus cabin to build some automatons for you to fight against. Maybe even go fight some monsters in the sea, eh? Oh, and you can set your swords on fire too, even underwater" she said. She gave me a last smile, and disappeared into smoke. I took out both of my swords, and willed them to catch on fire. Green flames slowly grew, licking the blades, until my blades were completely covered in flames. I willed an extra bit of fire to go on it, and green flames dripped to the ground, hissing and burning where they struck. _Dang, if only I had this type of power when fighting the Hydra and Ladon, I would have been laughing then._ I thought. Then I stopped the fire, breathing hard, sweat already coating my forehead.

I grinned. This was going to be awesome.

I walked to my cabin, and unsurprisingly, found Matthew sprawled on a bed, snoring so loudly, he would make Tyson sound like a baby. I gave a mental groan, and quickly took out my duffle bag. I quietly packed everything in there, my pictures, my iPod, earphones, clothes, everything into the duffle bag. I slung it over my shoulder, and walked towards the beach, deciding to sleep in a little crook where the sand was softer than cotton. As I lay down, I stared at the stars, especially at Zoe Nightshade. Before I fell asleep, I had one last thought: Tomorrow's training session will be fun.

I woke up to the conch horn sounding, and a naiad poking me in the side. I struggled up with a start.

"Um, what the Hades?" I mumbled.

The naiad blushed. "I'm sorry to bother you, Lord Perseus, but if you don't hurry up and go eat breakfast, people are going to wonder what's happened to you."

I snorted. "I doubt that. They're all fawning over Matthew."

"Oh, that stupid spawn of Poseidon? Humph, no way am I addressing him politely, my colleagues and I will be making things as hard as possible for him."

I got up and began walking towards the pavilion. "Um, why would you do that?" I asked.

"Because, he's stuck up and is an idiot. I can tell. He has no respect for anything, unlike you." The naiad replied, blushing and batting her eyelashes.

"Well, see you later alright? I gotta go. And thanks for your help."

The naiad nodded and waved goodbye. I walked towards the pavilion, to see almost everyone was there. I instinctively turned to the right, expecting Annabeth to be there, but then I remembered her letter. Thinking back on it made me sad, angry and heartbroken all over again. I stiffly walked over to the Poseidon table and sat down as the nymphs served the food.

"Oi!, what are _you_ doing here at _my_ table?" a voice yelled indignantly.

I turned slowly, and, as I expected, was my brother, Matthew. I fixed him with my best wolf stare, and took immense pleasure as he flinched.

"Excuse me? This is _your_ table?" I asked quietly.

He looked flustered by the fact that I had spoken quietly and didn't yell right back at him. Mentally, I grinned. Something I had learned from Octavian. Sometimes, speaking quietly had a bigger impact than yelling.

"Yes, of course it is!" he bellowed, using bluster to cover himself up.

I faked a yawn. "Really? Well, seeing as I'm not toasty crisps yet, this table is every bit mine than yours, boy."

He leapt to his feet, his hand already at his sword handle. "You dare defy me? I am a son of Poseidon! Didn't you see my take down those monsters yesterday? And I haven't gotten an _ounce_ of training!"

Gods, he was a midget, I'd say he was around 5'7 or something. I slowly rose to my feet, towering over him since I was about 6'2.

"We'll see how well you do this afternoon during training" I said in a carrying whisper. I gave him a wolfish grin, and walked off towards the braziers to give Poseidon my daily offering, even if he didn't care about me anymore. I heard a yell and footsteps but before I could do anything, a voice called out.

"Matthew! Enough!"

It was Chiron. He seemed absolutely angry, with a coldness in his eyes that made everyone flinch backwards. I felt a rush of gratitude and affection for Chiron. At least he hadn't forgotten about me. Unlike everyone else who were looking at Matthew with pity and some slight awe. Except, I noticed with a start, Katie Gardener, Travis and Connor, Nyssa from the Hephaestus cabin, all of the minor gods children, and surprisingly, Clarisse LaRue and the entire Ares cabin. All of them were looking at Matthew with disgust, exasperation, and, on the Stoll's part, were making extremely rude finger signs at Matthew. I felt another rush of affection for them. Maybe I wasn't so alone after all.

"Everyone, continue to what you were supposed to do and make it snappy, we're running behind schedule." Chiron said, pointing towards the braziers.

I went over and scraped half of my food in, muttering "For Poseidon" while I was doing it. I walked back to the Poseidon table, and scarfed the food down as quickly as possible, not wanting to sit next to Matthew any more than necessary. As soon as I finished, I leapt up and gave the tray to a nymph. I walked off, heading towards the Hephaestus cabin, thinking to wait there, asking them to build some super automatons for me. Then I decided to Iris Message Leo, since Leo could tell the Hephaestus cabin to make anything and they'd do it right away. I walked to the beach and sent a spray of water into the air, mixing with the sunlight, making a rainbow. I took a drachma out of my pocket, and tossed it in.

" _Oh Fleecy, do me a solid and show me Leo Valdez at Camp Jupiter"_ I said.

" _Excuse me? Percy? What is this nonsense of 'do me a solid' about?"_ a voice said from the rainbow.

I gave a small jump. "Um, Iris, is that you?"

 _"Yes, what do you expect?"_

"Well, it's because Fleecy told me that she was doing all the calls and said that the "Do me a solid'' was her direct line, it would be faster." I explained.

" _Oh. I didn't know that. Well, anyways, connecting you to Leo, young hero"_ Iris replied.

I saw Leo fidgeting and cursing with something small in his hand. Then it went off with a small explosion, giving Leo a nice sunflower face makeover. I couldn't help it.

"Nice makeover Leo, you sure that's going to help you attract Reyna?" I said, smirking slightly.

Leo jumped and whirled around. "Hey Perce! How's it going?"

I felt my smile drop off my face. "Oh, it's going okay."

I must have said it in a stiff tone, since Leo looked at me and instead of pestering me with questions, went straight to the point.

"So, what you call for? Flirting tips?"

I glared at him. "No. I need a favour."

"Alright, what is it?"

I quickly explained to him what I needed and whether his cabin would be willing to do it.

"Yeah, of course man! You're the Hero of Olympus, the killer of Giants and all that yada yada, of course they'd do it. Who wouldn't? And I'll just tell them to keep on making them so if you need new ones, just go ask."

 _Who wouldn't help right now? Almost the entire camp._ I thought sadly. Out loud, I said "Thanks a lot Leo, I owe you one."

"No you don't, what type of debts are there between friends, right?" he said cheerfully.

"yeah… well, thanks again Leo, talk to you later." I said.

I was about to swipe my hand through the message, but then I decided to talk to Jason and maybe ask Piper a couple of questions. I threw in another drachma.

"Can you show me Jason Grace please?" I asked.

 _"Will do"_

The image shimmered, to show a semi dark room, where the blinds were pulled down, a bit of sunshine poking through the gaps. I frowned. What was Jason doing in a semi dark room? Then I saw two shapes on the bed. The same bed. One had chocolate brown hair, and the other had blonde hair. Their lips were locked together and Jason was bare chested while Piper's shirt had ridden up so high you could say she was topless. For a second, I just stood there, shocked, then I felt the pain that I had barely kept under a cover rise and take over me. I numbly swiped my hands through the message, and collapsed to my knees, asking myself, " _Why? Why does Annabeth have to break up with me? Why can't I have a nice ending for once?"_ I cried. I couldn't help it, but the tears streamed down my face again. I heard footsteps and I hastily wiped my face, and turned to meet whoever had come, expecting Matthew or someone and jeered at me for being a crybaby. To my surprise, it was Clarisse.

"Go ahead. Call me a baby. Or anything." I grumbled.

She raised an eyebrow. She gave a flick of her wrist, and behind her came the Stoll's and Katie.

"What do you guys want." I said wearily.

To my surprise, Clarisse put her arm on my shoulder.

"C'mon guys, Prissy here needs a group hug." She said.

"I do not!" I said indignantly.

"yeah, right, Percy, and I can't pick pocket a New York business man." Said Travis and Connor.

Katie nodded. "C'mon, Percy, you can tell us. We're your oldest friends"

"That's right, Prissy, you may be a crybaby and idiot, but I'll always stand by your side." Clarisse said.

I had to admit, I was touched. I sighed. "Annabeth broke up with me."

To my surprise, my friends just sighed and l looked as if their worst dreams had come true.

"I knew it. I told you, Clarisse, that that's what would happen." Katie said.

Clarisse's eyes flared. "How was I supposed to know she'd be that unfaithful?"

"Yeah, I know. I was hoping that it was something else bothering her…" Katie said sadly.

I sat up straighter. "Wait, what are you guys talking about?"

Clarisse and Katie were avoiding my eyes. "Travis. Connor. Tell. Me. _Now."_

They flinched from my gaze. "Well, you know how you were gone for like 5 months right? Almost half a year?"

"Yeah, so? I was gone longer than that and we went through it perfectly fine." I said grumpily.

"I know. All of us knew. But when you disappeared, Annabeth was worried at first, but after half a month, she got angry. Like, real angry. And very fragile. She spent a lot more time in the mortal world too, and her excuse was that she was searching for you. But after a while, a few of us began wondering whether or not what she said was true."

I began feeling angry. "Yeah? And then what."

Travis flinched. "Well, you know, I began to notice that she was openly flirting with other boys, and when I stalked- ahem, _followed_ her, I found her walking hand in hand with some guy. Definitely mortal. And well, I overheard him asking whether she wanted to join him to Greece, you know, rebuilding and remodeling the Parthenon. And whether she wanted to be his girlfriend. And she instantly accepted. Like, no hesitation-n-n…

"You mean she gave me up to go with a _mortal and architecture?"_ I hissed. I knew about the architecture, but not the mortal. I could feel my eyes burning with rage.

"P-Percy, c-c-calm down, you're getting really s-scary." Clarisse stuttered as everyone backed away from me. I realized that I had risen to my full height and my eyes were beginning to catch on fire. I took a deep breath and blew out, sighing as I did.

"Well, maybe she and I just weren't meant to be, even after knowing her for five years." I said in a flat tone.

The others nodded resignedly. "Just remember Percy, we'll always be at your side." Katie whispered, then they left.

I looked at my watch and realized it was almost time for sword fighting lessons. I walked over to the arena, keeping a straight face even though my feelings were in turmoil. When I arrived at the arena, a whole crowd of people was already there, waiting. Matthew stood at the front, a smug smile on his face, sword in one hand and his other arm around a Aphrodite girl who was squealing with delight. Matthew saw me and smirked.

"About time you got here, kid. Afraid do get your ass whupped?" he sneered.

"We'll see who's standing and who's on the ground at the end of this session." I replied calmly.

"Bring it on, mud spawn." He challenged as he held his sword in a awful position. I made a slight finger sign that I had learned from Travis, and he charged. Exactly what I wanted. He held his sword so low that it almost scraped against the dirt.

"Get ready to get slashed!" he roared.

I merely stood there, my hands down at my side, unarmed. As he brought his sword back to swing, I leapt forward, grabbed both of his arms, and wrenched them backwards with so much force that they popped and I knew I had dislocated both of his shoulders. Then I kicked him in the crotch, and as his body bent reflexively, I brought my knee straight into his face with a sickening crunch. Then I leaned down, picked him up by his throat, easily lifting him off the ground, curled my foot up against my body, and shot it out in a perfect line, releasing my hold on his throat as my foot connected with his stomach. He flew back about 15 feet, landing in a cloud of dust. Blood was spilling from his mouth, while he retched repeatedly, gobbets of blood flowing out with every retch. I stared at him coldly.

"Is that the best you can do, boy? Even a five year old can give me more of a challenge." I taunted him.

Matthew struggled to sit up, gurgled a few incomprehensible words, and collapsed backwards, unconscious.

I gave a derisive snort. "Well, now, that was too easy. Alright, who's next?"

Everyone stared at me in pure fear, which quickly turned into anger. Everyone began yelling at me, 'Is that how you _train_ a new person?', 'When did you become that cruel, Jackson?' or 'We can learn perfectly well by ourselves, we don't need you!'

The entire Ares cabin burst into yelling, but they were yelling _for_ me, which was surprising, while Travis and Connor were walking around, quickly slipping _something_ into everyone's pockets. I then saw Katie give Travis and Connor a wink, and I mentally shuddered at what Katie would've grown and put inside those paper packets.

"QUIET!" Chiron roared, stomping his hoof several times against the ground. No one listened. Everyone was getting into a yelling match when a flash of bright golden light interrupted everyone. When it cleared, my father stood there, his trident in his hand. Everyone instantly stopped shouting and kneeled.

"Who did this?" he roared. "Tell me!"

Everyone flinched back, and then they hesitantly pointed at me.

Poseidon's eyes flamed as he looked at me. "Perseus Jackson! How could you do that to your own brother?" he yelled, the ground shaking with his anger.

"He deserved it" I replied, surprisingly calm. I actually didn't really care whether or not Poseidon blasted me to the Underworld, since most of my friends seemed to be dead anyway.

He gave me a good glare, and in that moment, I saw that his eyes seemed slightly glazed. But before I could get a good luck, he turned away, and bent down to Matthew. He sent a pulse of green light through him, and Matthew struggled up.

"Well? Do you not want to come to my palace or not? I did tell you I'd pick you up didn't I?" Poseidon said.

 _What? He invites Matthew to his palace? When was the last time he invited_ me _to his palace?_ I thought angrily.

"Dad, I can't, that stupid idiot dislocated my arms." Matthew said hoarsely, pointing his head in my direction.

Poseidon gave me another good glare and bent down, picked Matthew up, and teleported away.

I stood there, feeling abandoned, unwanted. I turned around stiffly and walked towards the Hephaestus cabin. I knocked, and thankfully, Nyssa opened the door.

"You want your automatons now?" she asked.

"That'd be great. Thank you very much" I said.

She nodded and snapped her fingers. Several Hephaestus kids brought out huge, tall automatons, covered in spikes and, if they followed my instructions, lots of hidden blades.

"Here. This cart will make it much easier for you to pull it wherever you want to pull it." As they lifted it up onto the cart. I gave it a experimental pull and was surprised at how easy it rolled.

"Thank you again, guys." They nodded and closed the door rather sharply. I sighed. Great, just what I need, more haters. As I pulled it towards the beach, I decided to train my fire powers since I had like near zero control over it.

I reached the beach, and pushed the cart into a hiding spot that only I knew about. I stretched and concentrated on drawing fire from inside myself. I felt a warm feeling pass through my hand. I glanced down. My right hand was entirely covered in green flames. I then tried it with my left hand. I grinned. Now both of my hands were on fire. Dang, this was cool. I then summoned a wall of water and doused myself in it. The fire didn't go out. _This is so cool_ I thought. Then I willed the fire to go away and it instantly went out.

"Good job, Percy Jackson." A voice said behind me.

I turned around, startled, to see Hestia standing there in her grown women form. I bowed.

"Ah, how do I address you? My patron or Lady Hestia?" I asked.

She smiled. "Hestia is fine. After all, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have had a throne." She said.

"Ok Lady Hestia." She gave me a rueful glare as I laughed.

"You can do much more than set your hands on fire. And also, since you are my champion, my powers will come as easily as controlling water is to you. Basically, your control over fire is many times more than that Leo Valdez. You can create firewalls, fireballs, shoot blasts of fire, surround yourself in fire, and even create a fire tornado." Hestia said.

"That's nice. But, forgive me if I'm disrespectful, my patron, but why are you letting me use these abilities for fighting? Because I thought you said that you liked everything to be peaceful and quiet?" I asked.

Hestia smiled. "Myself, yes, I will only use my fire powers if I'm forced to. But you, you are my champion, and a champion must be able to fight, yes?" she said, giving me a sly smile.

I knew that it was only because I was her champion that she let me use her gift that way, so I merely said "Thank you, Lady Hestia."

"Not at all, Percy Jackson. And remember, if all seems lost, come to the hearth. The original hearth" She said. Before I could ask what she meant, she disappeared in a ball of flame.

I got up and decided to try what she told me. I concentrated and whipped up a fire wall that lasted for about five seconds before I couldn't hold it anymore. I practiced until the conch horn sounded for dinner, by then, I could maintain a firewall as easily as controlling water to shoot through the air. I could also control when to let the flames take over my eyes. I grinned. I couldn't wait to show Thalia and Nico that I had green flames for eyes. As I reached the pavilion, I heard my father bragging about how quickly Matthew had healed, and how he had managed to help in a fight against sea monsters that still rebelled against Poseidon. All the campers were hanging on to each word, their mouths wide open. I quietly sat down at my table, behind Poseidon, quietly scraped my food into the brazier, and quietly ate the food as fast as I could, hoping to sneak away before Poseidon finished his stupid speech. No such luck. I was halfway through eating when he disappeared into sea mist, with a loud reminder to treat his son well, as if I didn't exist. Matthew turned to me.

"Well, that should teach you to be nicer to me, jerk." He smirked.

I couldn't help it. My anger snapped, and I picked up my plate of mashed potatoes and slammed it into his disgusting face. Sure, I'd probably be hungry later on, but right now, I didn't give a damn. I stalked off towards the beach, ignoring the yells and cries of Matthew and the campers behind me. As I walked to my sleeping spot, I decided to give them a little scare and summoned the largest ball of fire I could. Then I tossed it high into the air, and made it explode with a bang. Screams were heard, and mass yelling. I smirked. _Now I can go to sleep_ I thought, laying down in my comfy little spot.

Over the next couple weeks, Poseidon came and visited Matthew daily, always inviting him to his palace, and praising him to the skies for Matthew's "skill". As far as I was concerned, he barely knew how to handle a sword properly. Everyone was fawning over Matthew, seriously impressed that Poseidon favored him so much, while they didn't even care whether I showed up or not. Clarisse and the Stoll's were now cheerful spots in my life, where they kept on pranking him, or thrashing him, but always getting away with it. I was also willing to bet that Chiron was secretly helping them, as I could tell how much he hated it when Matthew boasted constantly, saying he was "as strong as a god" or "the best swordsmen alive".

I, meanwhile, trained my fire powers with a vengeance. I could control it so well, that it rivaled my water abilities. I could also control both of them easily, at the same time, while doing complex maneuvers with my dual swords. After the Hephaestus cabin got pissed off by the fact that I destroyed their automatons so quickly,(most likely because my swords were on fire) I took to the ocean, traveling far and wide, learning many of its secrets and destroying tons of monsters. Delphin, king of the dolphins, had become one of my closest friends, and many of the mermen admired me a lot. I could also tell they were a little scared, because I could use fire underwater, but it was still a lot of fun. Especially making boiled lobster monster. There was this monster, it had the form of a giant lobster, a disgusting booger colour, its shells so hard that even my flaming swords had a hard time cutting it. We eventually defeated it when I lifted it up in a massive water ball and sent a continuous stream of fire at it, effectively making boiled lobster. The only side effect was that we didn't get any lobster meat, all we got was burnt shells and a stinky smell. Some monsters just don't have the courtesy to leave behind good keepsakes.

I was reliving through my memories and adventures, walking around the camp, when Chiron came to me, a look of deep concern and sorrow etched on his ancient face. The instant I saw it, I stopped still.

"Chiron, what is it." I asked.

"Percy, my boy, you won't want to hear this." He said.

"Please, just tell me." I begged him.

Chiron turned away. "Your mother and step father are dead. I just saw their bodies myself." He said in a voice barely above a whisper.

I stepped back as if someone had slapped me across the face. "How?" was the only thing I managed to choke out.

Chiron gave me a worried look before answering. "I do not know. But I am willing to swear on the River Styx that it was a sea creature. I could _smell_ the sea when I entered, even with all those mortals there. What's even more, was they died from broken necks and spines. From paralysis. Not a visible wound. An from what I've heard from the police, they say that they heard a loud explosion, and I quote ".. as if someone had taken a trumpet and magnified it by ten thousand times"

I stared at him dumbly, obviously not getting to what he was talking about.

"Chiron, I have to go see them. I have to."

"My boy, you cannot. There was a powerful presence near it, and it did not disappear when I left. Please Percy, promise me on the Styx, that you will not go to your parents apartment."

He said it with such a serious tone that I couldn't help but start feeling afraid. "I promise on the Styx" I said.

Chiron nodded. "I-I will leave you alone now." He said, as he cantered off.

I headed for the beach, holding my tears back until I got there. The moment I reached the beach, I let loose all control and cried. I dearly loved my mother and Paul a _lot,_ and now they were dead. My only ties to the living world. _I never even had time to say goodbye to them_ I thought sadly. I don't know how long I sat there crying, I just knew that by the time I was done, it was completely dark. I had half a mind to skip dinner, but I decided to go and just sit there and see if Chiron would tell me anything else. I stumbled over, bumping into Clarisse while walking over there.

"Watch it, you pun- oh, it's you Prissy, watch where you walk will you? Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

I turned my head away, wiping at my eyes. "My mum and step dad are dead" I whispered hoarsely.

Clarisse suddenly seemed extremely embarrassed. "Oh. Um, uh, I'm sorry for that, and um, I'm going alright?" before rushing off, obviously not used to trying to comfort people.

I slumped onto the bench, barely acknowledging the nymph who handed me a plate of barbecue. Normally, I would have been excited at the prospect of heating BB, but now, it reminded me of my mom, and it filled me with a deep sadness. I walked over to the brazier and emptied almost all of it in, before saying "Hestia, this is for you. A bit for you too, dad." I turned back and slowly ate, then realized with a start that Matthew wasn't here. I was glad, I didn't need that jerk beside me to taunt me and make me angry. Just as I said that, a burst of golden light appeared with a strong smell of the sea. I turned to see Poseidon, Matthew and – this really surprised me- _Triton_ standing on the table. Everyone stared in shock, then hastily knelt. I just sat there, slowly heating my barbecue up until it turn into a lump of black meat.

"Campers! I have an announcement!" Poseidon bellowed. _If you didn't have an announcement, then why are you here? Get on with it._ I thought sourly.

"My demigod son, Matthew, has proven himself in his battles against various sea monsters, all of them were pretty powerful, and he defeated them all. As a reward, I have made Matthew a member of my immortal son Triton's guard, and an immortal Guardian of this camp. He will now have split duty, protecting this camp and attending ceremonies with Triton." He announced in a proud voice. However, his eyes flicked down towards me, and again, I could see his eyes were slightly glazed, not his normal sea green colour, but he turned away before I could get a nice close look.

Anger and resentment boiled beneath me. So that's why Matthew has a bigger glow and is wearing fancy armour now. I mentally gave a big snort, Guardian of the camp, ha, I'd like to see how well he does when real monsters attack.

"So campers, I would like you to welcome your new immortal Guardian, Head counselor of my cabin and fellow camper, Matthew Grant!" he bellowed.

The entire camp erupted into cheers, as the swarmed over my table, eager for a touch from Matthew.

"Have fun, my son, I must go now." Poseidon said to Matthew. With that, he teleported away. Triton turned to me and gave me a strangely satisfied and unpleasant sneer. Then he too, teleported himself away.

Matthew smirked down at me. "Well, _brother_ , I am now Guardian of this camp, which means I decide who is too dangerous to stay. So, get out of this camp and don't come back."

I sat there in shock, how could he kick me out?

"Didn't you hear what I said, twerp? GET OUT!" He roared.

"You don't have the authority to kick someone out of my camp, Matthew!" Chiron yelled.

"Oh yes I do, my father and Triton gave me all rights to decide who's too dangerous." He said, pulling a letter out of his pocket and tossing it toward Chiron. Chiron's eyes widened in horror at this and he looked at me with despair in his eyes. I nodded to let him know I was okay with this.

I gave a mocking bow to Matthew, "Very well, I shall leave. But only because I want to, not because you tell me to." I said, before walking straight off towards the camp borders.

As I walked down the hill, I felt strangely content. I knew exactly what I was going to do. I hailed a cab and told the driver to bring me to the Empire State Building. During the ride, I remember Hestia's words to me _. If all seems lost, come to the hearth. The original hearth._ She had said. I paid the driver and walked straight into the building's lobby. I went to the front desk and held my hand out.

"The keys to the 600th floor please" I said.

"There is no-"

"Six hundredth floor, right, and I'm not the Savior of Olympus. Either you hand them over or I'll burn your book and force you to hand it over. " I said threateningly.

"Burn? You're a son of Poseidon, kid, you can't burn things." He snorted.

"True. But Hestia is my patron, so I _can_ burn things." To emphasize my point, I made a ball of fire appear on my outstretched hand and set my eyes on fire. He paled and hastily handed me the keys. I tossed him a drachma, and went into the elevators. I put the key in, and the elevator began going up, playing Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'.

 _I walk a lonely road,_

 _the only one that I have ever known,_

 _Don't know where it goes,_

 _But it's home to me and I walk alone…_

How fitting. I was indeed on a boulevard of broken dreams, and I was walking alone right now. I vaguely wondered whether Thalia liked this song for more personal reasons or just because she's weird. As the elevator doors _dinged,_ I stepped out onto the walkway and took a little time to survey Olympus. I had to admit, grudgingly, that Annabeth had, indeed, done quite a job in remodeling Olympus. I walked down the streets, heading straight to the throne room, barely noticing that people were looking at me with a reverence in their eyes. I continued to think while walking, and the more I thought, the more I liked the idea. Then I stopped dead. Right in front of me was a massive statue of me and Annabeth, holdings hands, about to kiss. At the bottom was the golden inscription

 _Percy Jackson, Hero of Olympus and Annabeth Chase, Official Architect of Olympus, together forever and after._

I couldn't help it. I felt an intense rage build inside me as my eyes burned, I whipped out my sword, Riptide already dripping flames, and slashed as hard as I could at the statue's intertwined hands. There was a small explosion as I cut it apart, cracking bits of the whole statue. I sheathed Riptide, and continued walking towards the Throne room, ignoring the scandalized looks the people were now giving me. I approached the throne room and heard voices inside. They seemed to be yelling.

"I don't know! Something is wro-"

"There is NOTHING wrong with me!"

"Now Poseidon, even I have to admit that you are acting stranger and stupider than befor-"

"SHUT UP. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME?"

"HOW DARE YOU YELL AT MY DAUGH-"

Good. The gods were angry. Make it easier for me. I knocked. Instantly, everyone quieted down and the doors swung open. I walked in, slightly surprised that all the Olympians were present. There was Zeus, who looked angry and grumpy as usual, but also some slight suspicion. My father, who looked like he was at the point of sending everyone to Tartarus, but when he saw me, instant confusion was written all over his face. I gave him a cold look before looking at the other gods. There was Hera who looked at me questioningly, Apollo who was nodding his head to some tune on his iPod, Hermes, looking worried, Artemis, who was frowning just slightly, Hephaestus was giving me a rueful glare, Dionysus was trying to appear non chalant about me being here, but I could tell he was interested by the way his eyes glinted. Demeter had a bored look, and was engaged in a staring contest with Hades, Aphrodite looked sad, really sad, Athena had a truly surprised look on her face, Hestia was looking at me with pity and sorrow, I think she knew what I was going to ask. And Ares, well, Ares was just plain old glaring at me.

I walked over to Zeus and knelt at his feet.

"Perseus Jackson, Hero of Olympus, why have you come here today?"

"Lord Zeus, I have a favor to ask of you. You might even enjoy it."

"What is it. And something I will enjoy?"

"Well, possibly, but anyways, I would greatly appreciate it if you could… "I coughed and halted. It was surprisingly hard to say it. Especially when a certain goddess was staring at me, interfering with my mind. I turned slightly, and, as I expected, saw Hestia staring at me. Her eyes seemed to glow more than usual. I shook my head slightly at her, and she sat back, looking at Zeus with a look of despair. I noticed that Zeus saw, as he asked.

"Well? What is it?"

I took a deep breath.


	6. Chapter 6

**Artemis**

Artemis was surprised to see Percy Jackson on Olympus. Didn't he have things to do? Such as snogging that Daughter of Athena, and teaching the campers how to fight with a sword. However, after all this commotion, she began to suspect that something was badly out of place. She frowned slightly, wondering what he would ask of the gods. _Maybe he wants godhood now? Which means he probably dumped Annabeth. I'm not surprised, men are always like that. Even Percy Jackson._ Artemis thought. She looked at her relatives faces, each of them had varying emotions written all over their faces. The ones that interested her the most was Poseidon, who looked at him with confusion, Aphrodite, who was staring at him, but instead of staring at him in a 'Oh my gods, he's hot' way, she was staring at him glumly and sadly. That surprised me. Athena was looking at him with utter surprise, and Hestia, who was looking rather downcast. She couldn't help but notice that his face looked terrible. It seemed as if he had aged a thousand years since she last saw him, when he was hugging Thalia with a sparkle in his eyes. Now, his eyes were red rimmed and raw, and mashed with emotions of pain, hate, anger, and resentment.

Perseus knelt at Zeus's feet and they began talking, with Zeus asking the customary question. Then Percy said that he had a favor that Zeus might actually like. _The only thing I can think of that would make my father happy is killing a son of Poseidon or Hades…_ I thought dryly. Percy spoke, then halted. I saw Hestia staring at him, and I could feel the powers of persuasion she was using. I gave a mental snort. Percy's mind was far too strong to be affected at that distance. I caught an intense look between Hestia and Zeus. Zeus gave the slightest of a nod, and asked Perseus, surprisingly kind.

"Well? What is it? He asked.

Percy took a deep breath. I knew that whatever he was going to say was going to be big.

"Kill me." Was all he said.

All of us jerked backwards in shock. That was _not_ what any of us was expecting. Athena was the first to recover.

" _What?_ You want to _die?_ Are you insane? What about Annabeth? Does that mean you dumped her?" Athena screeched like an owl.

With her trained eye, Artemis instantly knew that Athena had hit a very sore spot. Every muscle in Percy's body tensed and his eyes glowed.

"I…me… _I dump Annabeth? Are you kidding me?_ SHE DUMPED _ME!_ Haven't you been checking up on your kids' lives, Athena?" He choked and roared out.

Athena looked as if someone had just attacked her throne. "Annabeth cheat on you? She'd never do that!" she yelled.

"Then kindly explain to me what the _Hades_ is she doing in Greece, rebuilding your Parthenon with her _mortal boyfriend?"_ Percy bellowed straight back.

"You're lying. There is _no way_ Annabeth would be that … stupid." She said.

"Tell me, Athena, when was the last time you checked up on Annabeth and the others?" he growled.

"Um, two weeks after you left, when she asked me where you were." Athena mumbled.

"Yeah? Any other time? " He asked.

"No…" Athena muttered.

"I see you still don't believe me. Alright. Fine." He turned to Hermes and Demeter. "Lord Hermes and Lady Demeter, would you please be so kind as to talk to your cabin counselors and ask them what they saw about Annabeth when I was gone?" He said politely.

They nodded, still shocked, and disappeared in a flash of light. Percy turned to Ares. "Ares, go ask Clarisse, she was the one that told me about it." Percy grumbled. Ares just stared at him, until Zeus cleared his throat. Ares nodded and disappeared too. Artemis looked around, and found all of her colleagues still in a bit of a shock. Athena seemed dumbfounded, which was saying something. Artemis herself was deeply surprised, thought she decided to withhold judgment until Hermes, Demeter and Ares came back.

"My son, just because a worthless Daughter of Athena dumped you doesn't mean you should kill your-" That was as far as Poseidon got when Percy exploded into a rage.

"DON'T. CALL. ME. **_SON!_** " Percy screamed. The throne room shook with his power while his eyes and hands burst into flames, and a aura of fire surrounded him. _Holy Zeus, when in Hades did he have fire powers?_ Artemis thought, thoroughly shocked.

"What…?" Poseidon asked, confused.

"YOU DARE CALL ME SON AFTER YOU BLATANTLY DISOWNED ME? Did you know how I _felt_ when you praised Matthew to the skies in front of everyone? And how much attention you gave him?" Percy hissed.

"Percy.. I-I don't know.. who's Matthew?"

"DON'T LIE TO ME, POSEIDON! YOU VISITED HIM DAILY, INVITED HIM TO YOUR PALACE, MADE HIM AN IMMORTAL GUARDIAN OF CAMP, AND A MEMBER OF TRITON'S BODYGUARD!" Percy roared. A ring of green fire flared up around him, spinning around him, giving him a deadly look.

"YOU REPLACED ME WITH HIM! And the entire camp has abandoned me, except for a very few, Poseidon! All because of you. THERE IS NO POINT IN LIVING!" Percy screamed. "Most of my old friends are either at Camp Jupiter or they're dead! WHEN DID YOU EVER GIVE ME THAT TYPE OF ATTENTION, POSEIDON? ANSWER ME!"

The room darkened with Percy's anger, and Artemis had to admit, she was afraid of him. He seemed to contain an unkown amount of power, and it seemed that the more he stretched his limits, the higher his limits were. There were three flashes of light as Hermes, Demeter and Ares returned.

"Father, I have-" Hermes started, then stopped when he saw how dark the room was. "What the…?"

"Erm, did we-"

"Miss something?" Demeter and Ares finished simultaneously.

Artemis gestured towards the center of the throne room, where Percy stood, wreathed in a aura of fire, the air around him rippling with power.

"Oh." Was all the three gods said.

"Ok, ok, it looks like we have a major problem here, why don't we calm down and get through everything one by one?" Poseidon asked, even though it looked like he wanted nothing but to shrink away from his angry son and ponder on what happened.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, POSEI-" Percy spat out before Artemis leapt off her throne and clamped her mouth around his mouth.

"Ouch!" she yelped when she burned herself getting through his ring of fire. She leapt back hastily. That seemed to bring Percy back to himself as he bowed to Artemis and apologized.

"I'm sorry Lady Artemis, it's just that I got…angry." Percy said quickly.

"Well duh, of course you're angry boy, just control your temper better or you'll destroy yourself." Artemis snapped as she leapt back onto her throne with a hunter's grace.

Percy merely bowed his head and didn't offer a retort. The gods were quite surprised by his civility, especially when he was in such a rage.

"First, Hermes, Demeter, Ares, tell me what your children told you. Hermes, you first." Zeus ordered.

"Father, I swear on the River Styx that the following is true. I asked Travis and Connor, they said that Percy vanished nearly six months ago, and that at first, Annabeth was quite anxious. She kept on going around to search for him, except after about three weeks, she turned angry. Very angry. Pissed off at everyone, and began to flirt with boys out in the open. My sons told me that Annabeth spent more and more time in the mortal world, until one day, thanks to their godly traits, they decided to follow Annabeth. They found her holding hands with a unknown man, obviously a mortal, and overheard that he asked her to be his boyfriend and to accompany him to Greece to remodel and rebuild the Parthenon. She accepted instantly. That's all they have, after they ran away to avoid being caught." Hermes finished, looking at Percy with sorrow and pity.

Artemis was so shocked that she didn't hear Demeter telling Zeus what Katie Gardener had told her. _A man has his heart broken by a_ women? Artemis thought. _That's a first. Definitely a first. No wonder Perseus looked so forlorn and depressed when he came in. Why would_ anyone _leave Perseus? He was kind, caring, brave, impossibly skilled with a sword and drop dead handsome. Oh Hades, why am I thinking whether he's handsome or not?_ The fact that a boy was cheated on by a girl was so alien to her that she just stared off into the distance, pondering, thinking.

"Hello? Artemis? Hey, Olympus to Artemis?" Apollo said, waving his hand in front of her.

"Wh-What is it, brother." Artemis snapped.

"Nothing. Just wondering why you were staring off into space. That's all. Also, Ares is about done talking."

Artemis brought herself back to the present, reminding herself to think about Percy being cheated on by Annabeth later on.

"… So to put it in a short story, Clarisse just really wanted to wring that Chase girl's neck after she found out." Ares finished.

All eyes turned to Athena, who looked down in shame and embarrassment.

"Percy… I'm sorry. I truly am. I didn't know my daughter would be that idiotic and throw away such a nice person like you." Athena whispered.

Percy nodded. "It's alright. It's not your fault. Maybe I just haven't met my soul mate yet…" Percy sighed, hurt and pain creeping into his eyes again.

Artemis instantly felt sorry for him, despite the fact he was a man. _An honourable and very respectable man, actually._ Artemis thought. He had, after all, taken the sky and took a bolt for her, and if that didn't qualify him as honourable and respectable, then she didn't know what did.

"Very well. Now that that matter is resolved, let us move on to my brother's… queer behavior." Zeus announced.

All eyes turned to Poseidon, with Percy's eyes smoldering.

Poseidon looked around nervously, then cleared his throat. "Ok, first, who the heck is this Matthew? Cause as far as I know, I thought that Sally was just too good of a mortal and I cared about Percy a lot, so I wanted to stay um, faithful…" he mumbled the last bit.

"Excuse me? You want to stay faithful to a _mortal?_ " Zeus yelped.

"Yes, cause I liked her a lot. And I am happy that she has finally found quiet and happiness with that Blowfish man." Poseidon said proudly.

"You want to stay faithful for a mortal women and can't stay faithful to Amphitrite. My brother is loony!" Zeus complained, face palming himself.

"Ahem. HARK WHO'S TALKING ZEUS!" Hera shrieked.

Zeus jerked upwards as if he'd been shocked, ( _Oh the irony of it._ Thought Artemis) and instantly turned red.

"Well my dear, Perseus here gave me permission to have more demigod children but I haven't yet. So that means I'm faithful too." Zeus said.

" _Yet._ You said it yourself, not _yet_." Hera snapped.

"Um, look, sweetheart, how about we talk about this later ok?" Zeus practically begged Hera. She glared at Zeus and gave a stiff nod.

"Ok, Perseus, tell us, who's this Matthew boy. I heard when you were on a roll that he was an immortal How could he have become a immortal without me knowing?" Zeus asked.

"Matthew is this stuck up, egoistic brat who got claimed by Poseidon personally. Just a few hours ago, Poseidon showed up at the pavilion in camp and announced that Matthew is now an immortal guardian of camp and a personal bodyguard or something to Triton. Since he is now guardian of that blasted camp, he has the power to kick people who are too "dangerous" out of camp. That is why I'm here, asking for any of you gods to send me to the Underworld. At least that way, I can meet my old friends and my m-mom." Percy said it all through gritted teeth but choked up on the last word.

"What? What do you mean, you can meet your mother in the Underworld!" Poseidon asked frantically.

Percy turned with a venomous look and pain filled eyes. "They were killed. By an immortal. Chiron said that when he went in there, there was a strong sea smell. And he sensed a powerful presence. SEA CREATURES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE UNDER YOUR CONTROL POSEIDON, WHY COULDN'T YOU STOP IT?" Percy screamed, a tear running down his face.

The throne room shook again as green flames burst into life, but this time, the green flames were a poisonous green colour, as if Percy were ready to kill.

"Percy…I swear on the River Styx that in my memory I do not know who Matthew is. And I swear on the Styx that even if I had another son, I would not replace you with him, or make him an immortal." Poseidon said quietly, with a broken voice. Thunder boomed as he said it.

Percy seemed to calm down a bit, at least, the fire around him went out, even though his eyes were still pits of green flame.

"If you want to know who Matthew is, you can ask m'lady Hestia or take a look at camp right now." Percy said harshly.

The gods looked at Hestia. She nodded and pointed to the hearth at the center of the room. The flames shimmered, showing a crowd of screaming campers crowding around Matthew, who was still dressed in his fancy ceremonial armour.

"Who needs Percy Jackson eh? You guys just need me!" Matthew was yelling. The campers screamed again as they mobbed him.

All the gods gasped loudly, while Poseidon's mouth dropped low.

"How..?" He choked out, directing the question to everyone.

"Uncle, you truly do not remember anything about Matthew?" Artemis asked.

"Yes. I will swear again on the Styx again that I cannot remember Matthew." Poseidon stated. Again the thunder boomed.

"Then I have an idea on who to ask." Artemis said.

"Who" Zeus asked.

"Hecate" Artemis said. "This sounds like her potions, and it's entirely possible that someone may be plotting against our young hero here, and has done this to spite him. And as much as I hate to admit this, I believe that our architect is a stupid bitch and our young hero is a true hero. So I say we ask Hecate and get to the bottom of this. It's the least we can do for someone who has helped us so much, yes?"

All of the gods nodded, which surprised Percy. You rarely ever see that type of unity among the Olympians. What surprised him even more was that Artemis stood up for him, and Athena had not contradicted Artemis when she used bad language to describe her daughter.

"Very well. Hermes, please bring Hecate here." Zeus said. Hermes bowed and disappeared in a flash of light. While he was gone, Poseidon kept on mumbling to himself, with a terribly guilty look on his face. Percy was standing there, practicing his flame powers by twisting them into intricate shapes. Which led Artemis to asked the question.

"Perseus, how come you can control fire? You're a son of Poseidon, so how could you possibly have fire abilities?" Artemis asked.

"Yes, I was wondering the same thing, Jackson." Athena said.

Before Percy could speak, Hestia spoke up. "That is because he is my champion. I am his patron."

"WHAT! How can he be your champion? He's my son! He is _my_ champion." Poseidon yelled indignantly.

Percy opened his mouth, probably to give a rude retort, but Hestia cut him off.

"Well, after I saw what that Chase girl had done to him, and after seeing how the camp swarmed over Matthew, seeing _you_ praising him tremendously, I decided to offer it to him. If I hadn't, he would've killed himself much earlier. That's why I told him that if he had troubles, to come to the original hearth." Hestia explained, glaring daggers at her brother.

Poseidon looked down in shame again, unable to comprehend the fact that he favoured a son over Percy that he couldn't even remember.

There was a flash, and Hermes and Hecate appeared.

"You called, my lord?" Hecate said, bowing.

"Yes. I would like to know all the potions you have sold within the last six months. It is of utmost importance." Zeus said.

"No, wait, Hecate must have sold many, many potions to many different gods and immortals. I suggest that Hecate tell us anyone who she thinks has anything that is related to the sea." Artemis said.

Poseidon nodded. "That makes sense. So Hecate, anyone that smells like me?"

Hecate rolled her eyes. "Anyone that smells like you? No. Anyone that smells similar to you? Definitely. One was quite a while ago, about 15 years ago. Then quite recently, about last year, a lot of sea smelling creatures have come to my shop. Bought lots of potions. And by lots, I mean monstrous proportions."

Everyone stilled. "What did they buy? What did the potions do?" Zeus asked, tension evident in his voice.

Hecate frowned and closed her eyes, thinking. "Let's see… 15 years ago, that potion was a seducing potion. The most powerful I had, cost a fortune, and if I may say so, it rivals Aphrodite's love potion. They also bought a memory wipe potion. And then… starting about a year ago, many different sea creatures came, they bought short-term memory wipe potions, a potion that makes the victim obey any command, and a potion that creates false memories." She opened her eyes. "As I said before, Lord, they bought a _lot._ Enough to last at least several years. Even with heavy usage."

The gods and Percy looked at each other in horror. Poseidon had a shocked and angry face.

"Lady Hecate, what are the symptoms when a person is under your potions?" Percy asked politely.

"Usually, the person will have a slightly vacant expression, but on stronger minds, the eyes will look a bit glazed." Hecate replied.

"Dad. That's what your eyes looked like when I saw you." Percy said in a stiff tone.

Poseidon's eyes were glowing with anger at the thought of someone drugging him. He merely nodded.

"Hecate, thank you for your assistance. You may go." Poseidon said through gritted teeth.

"A pleasure to be of assistance, my lords and ladies." Hecate said, bowing as she flashed out.

As soon as she left, Poseidon slammed his trident to the ground with a yell of fury. All the gods winced. They knew how powerful Poseidon was, and they knew that somewhere down on Earth, a earthquake had hit and there were probably a lot of storms going on. Poseidon was crying while he lifted his trident again, ready to slam it to the ground when Athena flashed out of her throne and fought to restrain him.

"LET ME GO, ATHENA. I NEED TO VENT MY ANGER SOMEWHERE! **I DISOWNED PERCY, YOU UNDERSTAND?** " Poseidon roared.

"WELL, VENT IT ON TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO DID ALL THIS, IT'S THE LEAST YOU CAN DO FOR PERCY!" Athena screamed right back.

At the mention of Percy's name, Poseidon slumped. "That's going to be hard. There are lots of people who don't like me."

"Well, let's narrow everything down and think of it carefully." Athena said, sitting back on her throne.

"Well… wait a moment. Percy, what did Chiron tell you when he told you that your mother and step father died?" Poseidon asked Percy.

Percy quickly recounted the entire story. Poseidon frowned as he tapped his chin, thinking. "A sea smell, a very loud bang and a powerful presence… " He began muttering under his breath.

Everyone began thinking on who could possibly have done this to Percy. Artemis was deep in thought when she remember something that Percy had said.

 _Chiron said that the neighbors thought it sounded like a trumpet magnified 10,000 times._ Artemis recalled. _A trumpet! And who hates Perseus Jackson? Besides Ares? Most likely Triton and possibly Amphitrite._ Artemis thought. She and Athena shared a look and she knew that Athena had reached the same conclusion.

"Lord Poseidon."

"Yes Artemis?"

"Is it possible that Triton and even Amphitrite killed Percy's mother and step father?" Artemis asked, slightly hesitant, expecting an angry outburst.

Surprisingly, Poseidon looked thoughtful. "Hmmmm, that is entirely possible. He said that he left to look at some of his "lady friends" but I felt him exit the ocean. And Amphitrite said she had business to attend to" Poseidon said. Suddenly his eyes flared again.

"By the Styx, if he and my wife killed Sally and, uh, Blowfish, tricked me into having another son and wiping my memory, I WILL TOSS THEM INTO TARTARUS PERSONALLY!" Poseidon roared.

"Dude. Lord Poseidon, Uncle and all. CHILL OUT." Apollo said. _That was very stupid…_ Artemis thought, giving a mental sigh at her brother's stupidity.

"WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME TO CHILL OUT? YOU STU-!" Poseidon roared before Athena vanished from her throne and clapped her hands over his mouth.

"Seriously, Poseidon, you're worse than Ares! Calm down!" Athena screamed into his ear.

Poseidon struggled but Athena had a firm grip on his mouth and his arms. Poseidon gave a stiff nod. Athena let go and vanished back onto her throne.

"Now, since it seems that the evidence points to Triton and his mother, we just need to trick them into spilling their secrets." Athena said.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Poseidon asked.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Well, that's what I'm thinking about, Barnacle Beard."

Poseidon glared at her. "Well, I've got an idea" he said smugly.

"Yeah? What is it?" She asked, pissed off that he had an idea and she didn't.

"Ahem. Well, as we all know, almost all immortals know that my dear brother does not like Percy and is constantly grumpy at me, at least on the outside." There was a lot of chuckling at this. "So, what better than to have Zeus or Hermes fetch Triton and my soon to be ex-wife here, and have Zeus ask them what I hold dear most, and what pisses me off the most, and ways to get some personal satisfaction from seeing Percy hurt, right?" Poseidon voiced his idea.

Athena's eyes widened a bit. "And then he might spill the beans. And we'll just sit in a group and use our powers to hide ourselves?"

Poseidon gave a smug grin. "Yup. And then once we hear everything we need, I'll send them into Tartarus."

Athena gave Poseidon a grudging smile." You know, Seaweed Brain, maybe you aren't as-"

"Hey, you talking to my dad or you talking to me?" Percy interrupted.

"I'm talking to Poseidon of course. Why?"

"Cause Seaweed Brain is my name." Percy replied.

"Oh. My apologies, Percy, I forgot. Well, Kelp Head, perhaps you aren't-" Athena managed to say before Percy interrupted her again.

"Excuse me, but that's my name too." Percy said.

"I don't recall my daughter calling you Kelp Head, Percy." Athena said, with barely concealed impatience.

"Yeah, she doesn't call me that, but Thalia does." Percy replied, grinning slightly.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Fine. Now, Kelp-for-Brains, as I was-"

"Hey! That's my name too!" Percy yelped indignantly.

"Who the _heck_ calls you Kelp for Brains?" Athena shrieked.

"Thalia and Leo Valdez." Percy said, grinning. By now, Artemis and the rest were biting their lips, trying hard not to laugh.

"Very _well._ Now, Aquaboy, I think-"

"OI! That's my name too!" Percy yelled.

"WHO IN HADES CALLS YOU THAT?" Athena screamed.

"Thalia." Percy replied simply.

Athena groaned and face palmed herself. "How many nicknames does Thalia _have_ for you?" She mumbled.

"Haha. A lot." Percy replied, smirking slightly. "Why don't you just say Poseidon and not give him a nickname. Cause last time I checked, you two were kinda enemies, and enemies don't call each other nicknames." Percy said, smirking.

Athena blushed. "Fine, fine. Well, I, at any rate, approve of Poseidon's idea. Anyone have any objections?"

Everyone shook their head.

"Excellent. Now, brother, you know what to do, right?"

"Of course. I'm the pseudo god of theater and theatrics aren't I?" Zeus boasted proudly.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Now, let's put this plan into action, alright?" He asked gleefully.

Athena nodded. "Ok everyone, shrink to human size and we'll sit in front of Hestia's throne since that's the coziest. Dim your powers down as far as you can, and Poseidon, control your smell. You stink." Athena ordered before shrinking down and flashing herself to the side of Hestia's throne. Poseidon grumbled and shrank down before flashing next to Athena. Everyone stared with raised eyebrows.

"What? Why can't I sit next to Athena?" Poseidon said, returning the looks he was getting.

"Never mind…" Aphrodite said with a sly smile before shrinking and flashing herself beside Poseidon. All the other gods gave Aphrodite a wary look and quickly sat in a small huddle in front of Hestia's throne. Percy walked over, looking depressed, and plopped down right in front Hestia's throne, leaning against it, holding his head between his hands. Hestia smiled and slid down, sitting next to Percy. Artemis shrank herself to her twelve year old form and surprised everyone by flashing herself next to Percy. This time, everyone stared, since Artemis usually sat next to the female goddesses. Artemis raised her head and gave everyone a cool stare, before addressing Percy.

"Thinking about Annabeth, Perseus?" Artemis asked Percy.

Percy flinched and lifted his head from his hands. Artemis could see the pain and hurt in his eyes, mixed with anger.

"Yeah. I'm also thinking about how tangled up my life is so far." Percy said depressingly.

Artemis fell silent. She had no idea what to say, since the things she had in store were things to comfort hurt girls, not boys. Luckily, Athena came to her rescue.

"Don't worry Jackson, your father and I will handle it, alright? Remember, I always have a plan." Athena said in a cheerful tone.

Percy looked her in the eye and raised an eyebrow. Then he nodded.

"Spiders?" He asked.

"Among others." Athena said.

"Yes, don't worry son, I'll take care of it." Poseidon said reassuringly.

Percy raised an eyebrow at Poseidon. "You're not off the hook quite yet, Father." He said coolly.

Poseidon bowed his head in shame and acceptance.

"Alright gods and goddesses. Let's create a shield!" Athena said.

Artemis and the other quickly raised their hands, muttering words. In seconds, a barely visible white shield surrounded them.

"Ok, we're completely invisible to anyone except for people who know we're here. Just as long as you don't step out of the white line. If you do, then it breaks the shield." Athena announced.

Zeus nodded, since he knew we were there, he could hear and see us. He waved to Hermes, who instantly disappeared. He reappeared after about five seconds, with Triton and Amphitrite.

"Pfffft. They're half drunk. This should be a piece of cake." Dionysus said disparagingly.

It was true. Their eyes were slightly unfocused and Artemis's trained eye detected that they stumbled ever so slightly. However, they pulled themselves together admirably and kneeled before Zeus.

"Rise, Triton and Amphitrite. I would just like to discuss a couple things with you two." Zeus said.

"We are honoured to have a conversation with you, Lord Zeus." Triton said, still half bowing.

"He's as bad as Octavian… nasty, power hungry, kissy-ups" Percy hissed.

"Calm down boy, you seriously need to control your anger." Artemis grumbled.

Percy merely cocked his eyebrow and bowed his head.

"Hermes, leave us." Hermes bowed and reappeared inside the shield, giving Percy a wink before sitting down. "Now, I want you two to swear on the Styx that you will not repeat anything about the following conversation, ok?" Zeus (demanded) asked.

"We swear on the River Styx to not repeat a single word on whatever you want to ask us." Triton and Amphitrite said.

"Good. Now, as you know, I hold a.. grudge against Percy Jackson. And since I hold a grudge against Percy Jackson, I also hold a grudge against my brother Poseidon. So, I am currently thinking on how to, well, hurt and annoy my brother and have some personal satisfaction on seeing Perseus disgraced, or abandoned at the same time. Since you, Triton and Amphitrite spend the most time with Poseidon, do you have any good ideas?" Zeus asked, his eyes portraying his words perfectly.

"He really should be the god of theater…" Percy muttered under his breath.

"Quiet boy!" Artemis snapped, punching him on the arm. Percy winced. Artemis could really punch.

Triton and Amphitrite shared a nervous look together.

"Well?" Zeus thundered.

"Ah, Lord Zeus, well, um, I truly mean no offence, but my mother and I have already begun having revenge on Percy and, indirectly, my father." Triton said hesitantly.

Poseidon and Percy instantly shot up, anger evident. "Get _down!_ " Artemis and Athena hissed. Athena grabbed Poseidon and yanked him down, while Artemis and Hestia both held onto Percy's arm, forcing him down. Percy struggled.

"Look, stupid boy, right now, it's too vague, he could be talking about something completely different, wait until we have solid proof so we can hit them!" Artemis whispered quickly.

Percy stared at her, and gave a stiff nod. "Very well, Lady Artemis."

"Now, let's just listen peacefully to what Triton and Zeus are talking about right now." Artemis said.

"-did you do to get revenge on Perseus? I'm not angry, I'm just interested, since I wanted to make his life worse also." Zeus said.

"Well, I'll just tell you the whole story, ok Lord?" Triton said.

Zeus nodded. "I have time, and no one will be coming here for at least a couple more hours." He waved his hands in the 'start talking' way.

Triton cleared his throat. "It started ever since my mother found out that Percy had been born. At first, I didn't care _too_ much, since I expected Percy to be a twerp. But then, I got a vision. It was a brief vision, but it showed me that Percy would replace me in my father's affections, and that Percy would achieve things that was unimaginable. I told my mother about it, and we agreed to get revenge on him, no matter how long it took. Since I had the vision that Percy would become Poseidon's favorite son, my mother thought ' what better than to get Poseidon to have _another_ son and force Poseidon to favour him instead and make everyone abandon him after his success?'

"So, the first thing we did was go to Hecate. She has a _lot_ of potions obviously, and we chose a seductive potion, very similar to Lady Aphrodite's love potion. And we also bought a memory wipe potion. After that, it was quite easy. I persuaded Poseidon to go to a club and just have fun, and I simply picked a hooker that looked gorgeous, spiked their drinks and sat back to watch the show. They spent the whole night and part of the day going at it, which is a testament to how powerful Hecate's potions are. When I brought father back to his palace, mother gave him a drink that had the memory wipe in it. It worked instantly. My father blanked out, and when he woke, he thought that he'd had a fun time assessing his troops abilities and probably an awesome night with that bitch, Sally Whatever."

Percy sat straight up, eyes flaming, struggling against Artemis's and Hestia's grip. "Don't you _dare_ call my mother a b-"

Artemis slammed her hand across Percy's mouth, pushing him against Hestia's throne. "I understand why you're angry, but just _wait,_ can you?" Artemis hissed.

Percy gave a muffled 'harrumph'. "Fine… but I'm going to beat the sixteen shades of sh*t out of him when this is over!" he said venomously.

"-watched over the hooker woman, and when she gave birth to the new son of Poseidon, I wiped her memory also. It was a bit harder, since it was long term, but I did it in the end. Mother took the baby to a orphanage, and we named him Matthew, with Grant as his last name. We continued to watch over him, and to be honest, we were really pleased that he's a stuck up, pompous boy. Exactly what we needed to get rid of Percy. We even considered to bring him out when Percy defeated Kronos, but then the next Great Prophecy was issued, and Percy went missing, so we decided to keep him under wraps for a bit longer. And I must say, I'm very glad that we did that, since Percy has fallen even more after his victory in defeating that giant Porphyrion." Triton smirked, pausing.

"Go on." Zeus said. "It's turning out to be _very_ interesting."

"Yeah, it's great. When Percy left to do whatever that goddess Athena told him to do, I wanted to bring him out and show him to camp, but Mother here guessed that Percy was doing something with Athena for his now ex-girlfriend. And mother thought that if we sent in Matthew in while Percy was with Annabeth would make a bigger impact. And then, the best luck happened to us. Annabeth left him! That was just _waaaay_ too good. So when Percy returned, mother and I instantly brought Matthew out, and we spiked Poseidon's drink with the potion from Hecate that allows us to give Father instructions. We told father to take special care of him, to treat him to all types of luxuries. Most importantly, to make Percy feel abandoned. Double that with his girlfriend dumping him, he should've broke instantly. But Percy was tough. He didn't break immediately. Sure, he was cracked, but not broken. So then, mother and I decided to kill his parents. I mean, seriously, they're good for nothing, and I knew that once we killed his parents, he would break. Because that damn centaur Chiron cares about Percy a lot. And he'd obviously visit the blown up apartment. I saw him myself. But Percy _still_ didn't break. Do you know how annoying that was? Everything is going well, Poseidon doesn't remember anything, he's following our orders thinking he's spending time with Percy, and Percy _doesn't break!"_ Triton said angrily.

"He _is_ rather strong… I must give him that." Zeus grumbled with genuine admiration. "Still, go on, what happened next?"

"Well, we decided that to break Percy, we would have to kick him out of camp. Because even though most of the campers have left him, he still has a few friends there. So if he was banished from camp, he'd be abandoned right? So I dumped a whole bottle of that order potion, and told Poseidon to make Matthew my immortal bodyguard and a immortal guardian of that camp. It took a lot of will to make Poseidon do it though, since this was probably pushing his limits. But, we managed, and we announced it right in front of everyone in camp, like an hour ago at most. I saw his face when Poseidon announced it. He was _finally_ broken, I was so happy, I could barely keep my face straight! Added to the fact that Matthew has the power to kick him out, mother and I finally achieved our goal. Took 15 years, but I think it's worth it. I also plan on revealing the truth to my father, to teach him a lesson on the consequences of cheating on mother." Triton finished, his face twisted with a smug grin. Even Amphitrite looked proud and smug.

It twisted Artemis's heart to know that they could do such cruel things. Sure, there was obviously a rivalry between a demigod and god sibling, but this far? And she was shocked that Percy and Triton had the same father, and yet they were so different. Artemis shook her head in bemusement. Distracted, she didn't notice Percy slipping from her grasp.

"Well well well, the truth at last" a voice hissed with pure venom.

Triton jerked, startled and whirled around to find Perseus Jackson standing there, wreathed in an aura of angry green flames, staring at him with certain pain and death in his flaming eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Percy**

Triton stared at Percy in pure shock, utterly confused. "W-w-what…h-how?" He stuttered. Percy smirked. He raised a hand and gave a flick of his wrist. Instantly, all of the gods stepped out of the circle, making a phalanx formation with Percy at the point, although there was a respectable amount of distance between Percy and the others, due to the fact that Percy was on fire. And the heat emanating from him palpable, far hotter than any normal mortal fire.

"Poseidon! Um, this isn't what you, um, uh…" Amphitrite trailed off.

"F-father, um, I-" Triton began but was forcefully cut off.

"Shut up! I am ashamed to have such a nasty son and wife. I should kill you and throw you into Tartarus!" Poseidon roared.

"You-you can't, I'm your _son!_ Your blood!" Triton pleaded.

"Yes, dearie, you can't kill him-" Amphitrite began but Poseidon flicked his hand and she went flying, slamming into Hera's throne. She struggled up, looking at him in shock.

Poseidon gave her a cold look. "You are no longer my wife. And I think Hera would agree." He said in a icy tone.

Hera nodded. "I declare this marriage nulled and void, because of the outrageous actions Amphitrite has done to Poseidon."

There was a brief flash, and Amphitrite's crown disappeared. She whimpered. "Please, you can't kill Triton. You _can't._ It's not honourable, to kill your own son. " She whispered.

Poseidon glared at her. "Perhaps. Very well, I will not kill Triton." At this, Triton began bowing and groveling, saying "Thank you" over and over again.

"But that does not mean I will stop my only true son, Percy, from killing you, Triton." Poseidon finished.

Triton's jaw dropped. Then he recovered, and boasted. "You think I'm afraid of that weakling demigod? You disown me and take a weakling as a real son? I'll you show you what you lost, Father." He spat.

Percy stepped forward and drew Riptide, drawing the second one out of the first. "It will be my _pleasure_ to fight you, Triton" Percy hissed, flames dripping from his twin swords as he crouched slightly, in a completely unorthodox fighting style.

Triton's eyes widened slightly, but he summoned a wall of water from within and hurled it at Percy. Percy merely raised an eyebrow and stared at the wall, stopping it in midair. Triton raised his hands and pushed, causing the water to inch towards Percy. Percy knew that in a contest of water control, Triton would win since he was a god, so Percy did the other. He raised both of his swords and pointed them at the wall, spewing flames so hot that the water instantly evaporated.

Triton was shocked while Percy smirked. "Seriously, Prince of the Sea, is that the best you can do?" Percy taunted.

Triton let out an angry growl. "I'll show you _real_ power, scumbag!" He roared. Triton stretched out his hand and a ball of white light appeared. When the light dissipated, he held his trumpet. He put it to his lips.

"The same way your damn mother and stupid step-father died, boy" Triton sneered as he blew a powerful blast of force that sped towards Percy. Bad idea. The instant Triton mentioned his mother, the flames boiled around Percy as he charged straight at the ball of force. He did a somersault over the attack and landed right in front of Triton, cross cutting so fast that four deep gashes appeared on Triton's chest, ripping through the armour as if it were paper thanks to his sword's flames. Triton screamed in pain as he transformed his trumpet into a sword and raised it in an attempt to defend himself.

Holding both of his swords parallel to each other, Percy whipped himself into a 360, smashing both of his swords straight into Triton's sword with a scream of metal. Triton staggered, and attempted to go on the offensive, but was batted aside from the speed Percy was attacking. He retreated steadily, while Percy ruthlessly pounded him with punishing blows, sparks and golden blood flying as Riptide bit deep into armour and flesh. Percy began doing his best and most powerful stance. The 360. Both of his Riptide's flew around him at such speed that the flames on his sword created beautiful yet creepy trails in the air, surrounding the two gladiators in a angry green tornado.

Triton knew that he wouldn't last much longer, what with so many cuts on his body, so he let loose all of his power in a single wave of force. It slammed into Percy, throwing him backwards 100 meters to crash painfully into the ground. But Percy seemed oblivious to the pain, since he leapt straight up and summoned balls of fire before throwing them at high speed towards Triton. Triton screamed as each one found its mark, despite being a Son of Poseidon, with enhanced heat resistance, the green fire hurt a lot.

With 100 meters between him and Triton, Percy decided to do a aerial strike that contained a lot of power in one strike. He sprinted and leapt high into the air, both of his swords raised above him. Triton saw him in the air and desperately raised his sword in the hopes of blocking the attack. No such luck. Percy's twin swords slammed into Triton's sword with a explosion of green fire. Triton's sword shattered as it hit, Riptide continuing its path of destruction, crushing Triton's collarbone as they bit deep into his body.

Triton gave a hoarse scream at the pain, almost blacking out. He looked into Percy's flame filled eyes of hate, and pleaded.

"Please, have mercy, don't kill me." He whispered.

Percy stood above Triton, his swords still sheathed in Triton's body. He lifted his foot and kicked Triton off, smashing his jaw as he did so. Triton's limp body skittered backwards, leaving a thick trail of golden ichor. He turned and looked at the assembled Olympians who had watched over the battle with a mix of shock, awe, and fear. All of them gazed at Triton with slight expressions of slight pity. Artemis and Poseidon were the only ones who looked at Triton with pure hate, without the slightest bit of pity.

 _"He deserves things worse than death, boy"_ Artemis said Percy's mind.

 _"I agree."_ Poseidon said, also in his mind.

Percy nodded. He walked over to Triton and flipped him over with his foot.

"I'm not going to kill you yet Triton. No, I'm going to have some _fun._ " Percy said nastily.

Artemis and Poseidon shared a look. _Maybe we should've let Percy kill him after all…_ Poseidon spoke dryly in Artemis's mind.

 _No. That stupid fool deserves what's coming._ Artemis responded.

Percy raised his hand, covering it in green flames. He bent down and hauled Triton up by his throat, ignoring Triton's strangled screams of pain as the flames burned him. He hauled him up and propped him against the wall.

"Lady Demeter, I require a board of wood, large enough to hold his entire frame with his arms stretched out in vertical line." Percy said politely.

Demeter nodded and snapped her fingers, a large wooden board appeared next to Percy, propped against the wall.

Percy smiled. "Thank you."

He dragged Triton over and leaned him against the board. He stretched Triton's right arm out and took out his dagger, slamming it into his forearm, punching through bone, flesh and straight through the room. Triton gave a scream, struggling to wrench himself free. Percy punched him in the stomach, silencing him. Then he stretched his left arm out, and took out two throwing knives and slammed it right through his arm, punching straight through the wood. He let go of Triton, letting him hang with the knives holding him in place. Triton looked at Percy with weary, pain-filled eyes, silently begging him to stop.

Percy ignored it and took out a flask of nectar, wrenching Triton's mouth open and pouring about half of it down Triton's throat. Immediately, Triton's wounds began closing up and the pain lessened.

"Thank you" He whispered, deciding that being diplomatic would be the best course.

"Oh, don't thank me yet. I just don't want you to pass out from your next punishment." Percy snarled. "You know what Chiron told me? He told me my parents died from paralysis. Because of broken spines. So, like for like, and plus interest." Percy said venomously.

"Wha-?" Triton said, uncomprehendingly.

"This, idiot." Percy smashed his fist into Triton's stomach with enough force to break his spine from the front. There was a loud crack, and Triton instantly retched, golden blood streaming from his mouth.

"Please…" Triton whispered.

Percy shook his head. "That was for Paul Blofis. You remember him? That little _mortal?_ You think he's useless, but he meant a _lot_ to me."

Percy stepped in front of his right hand. "Now, your fingers."

"No! Please, I beg you, please-" Triton began.

Percy whipped Riptide in a neat arc, slicing off Triton's fingers. Triton screamed, too weak to struggle. Percy raised Riptide again, this time with flames licking them. He pressed it to his finger stumps, cauterizing them. Triton yelled at the pain, and managed to jerk a little.

"That's for my mom, Sally Jackson. The best mortal who ever lived. Someone needs to teach you the consequences, right?" Percy sneered.

The gods stared in sick fascination, and with a bit of horror, horrified that the usually calm, carefree, funny, kind Percy Jackson could be so cruel.

"You know… there's a moral to this scene…" Athena whispered.

"Yeah… don't get on Percy's bad side." Apollo mumbled.

"Not necessarily. I think it's don't mess with people Percy loves and cares about the most." Artemis said.

"This is all my fault.." Poseidon moaned, rubbing his face.

"Shush, Poseidon, it's not your fault, you didn't know what was happening." Athena said kindly, rubbing his shoulders.

"Yes brother, it's not your fault. And I must say, I'm learning a couple of new things to teach to my torturers…" Hades said.

Poseidon opened his mouth but was interrupted by yet another scream. Triton's left hand fingers were all on the floor, the finger stumps already cauterized, and then noticed that Percy was standing there with his sword near Triton's mouth.

"Please, please _please,_ don't cut off my tongue, _please,_ I'm begging you." Triton whimpered, horrified.

The gods stared in horror. Cut off his tongue? Ouch. Poseidon stepped forward.

"Percy, my boy, just let Triton go. Hades will take him into his own personal dungeons, to ensure he never leaves. Just leave him his tongue intact, as a last courtesy, ok?" Poseidon pleaded.

"No. He deserves the pain, dad." Percy said harshly, eyes flaming.

Poseidon looked at the other gods helplessly. He stepped back, resigned, until Artemis stepped forward.

"Leave his tongue intact, boy. You've had revenge enough." Artemis said in a cold, commanding tone, her silver eyes plainly stating that she would brook no argument from him. Percy stared back for a couple seconds, before lowering his sword with a sigh.

"Very well, Lady Artemis. You owe me double now." Percy said, grinning slightly.

Artemis gave a very un-lady like snort. "I don't owe you anything, boy. Now let us gods take care of what is to happen."

"Fine. Then let me have one last personal satisfaction." Percy grumbled.

Artemis looked at him warily, before giving a nod.

Percy ripped the daggers out of his body, twisting it so that it cut as much as possible when he ripped it out. Triton flopped to the floor lifelessly, barely conscious.

"Well, Triton, this is goodbye for now, have fun in Hades's dungeon." Percy said. "A parting gift, as a sign of my affection for you, _brother_." Percy spat, somehow managing to make the last word sound like the world's worst insult.

Percy raised his hand and pointed at the Ophiotaurus's pool and summoned some water. He caused it to pool around Triton then flicked his hands upwards. Triton shot up like a bullet, smashing into the ceiling of the throne room with a sickening crunch. As Triton fell and crashed onto the floor, Percy made a jet of water to shoot himself up, then summoned a massive ball of fire in mid-air, slamming onto Triton's prone body with the force of a bomb as he fell on top of him. A wall of flame exploded outward, and there was the smell of seriously charred flesh.

When the flames cleared, the gods saw Percy kneeling on top of Triton, splattered in golden ichor, the fire diminishing from his eyes. Percy stood up and calmly brushed his hands and pants off.

"He's all yours, Lord Hades." Percy said.

Hades nodded, but before he took a step, Triton shuddered and his form began flickering. Then he vanished in a small cloud of golden dust.

"Interesting. What happened?" Percy asked.

The gods stared at each other before answering him. "You made him fade, Perseus." Zeus said in a serious voice.

"Oh. What a pity. I suppose I'm sorry then." Percy said calmly, obviously not bothered by the fact that Triton was gone.

There was a scream, and a blur as something shot towards Percy. Percy barely managed to dodge, and got a slight cut on the arm. It was Amphitrite. In all the commotion with Triton, they'd completely forgotten about Amphitrite.

"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU MADE HIM FADE! HOW COUL D YOU? IF HE WAS IN HADES DUNGEON'S, AT LEAST I COULD STIL VISIT HIM!" Amphitrite shrieked, pointing her dagger at him threateningly.

"He deserved it. And making him fade was completely unintentional." Percy replied. Unlike Amphitrite, Percy's voice grew colder and colder.

Amphitrite gave a yell and lunged at Percy, swinging her dagger in a wide arc. Percy grabbed her hand, wrenched the dagger out of her grasp, then grabbed the other hand that came flying at him and threw her backwards.

"Look Amphitrite, either you stop and shut up and let the gods decide what to do, or I'll just send you to Tartarus myself. I prefer the former, since I don't hurt women unless they're dracaene, Empousai, or Clarisse." Percy stated, earning himself a glare from Ares.

Amphitrite got up and picked her dagger up, staring at Percy. Then, without warning, she threw herself forward with surprising speed, slashing wildly. Riptide came out just in time to block a blow that would've cut his throat, then whipped around to cut Amphitrite on the thigh. She stumbled, and Percy backed her up to the wall, before knocking the dagger out and pushing the tip of Riptide against her throat.

"Um, perhaps I would like to reconsider your offer..?" Amphitrite said weakly.

Percy shook his head. "I gave you the chance. Opportunities don't come twice, you know." He said, pushing Riptide a little deeper.

Her hands moved up in an attempt to push Riptide away, but jerked backwards when flames began licking the places where she touched.

"Perseus, hear her out and then you can judge. Don't be too rash." Artemis commanded, feeling slightly sorry for Amphitrite.

Reluctantly, Percy lowered his sword slightly. "Well, what is it you want to say?"

"Please. Just let me live. I'll give you anything and do anything, please. Just let me live." Amphitrite begged.

Percy's eyes glinted dangerously. "Anything?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Please, I didn't mean to do anything with your mother." Amphitrite pleaded.

 _"That was_ STUPID! _"_ Athena broadcasted to the others.

" _I have a bad feeling about what's coming up…"_ Hades replied telepathically.

 _Hades having a bad feeling about something? That's not good._ Artemis thought.

"You remember you said you'd give me anything, right?" Percy asked, his eyes now flaring.

"Y-yes. Anything." Amphitrite said.

"I want my mother back, you bitch, and since that's impossible, I'll do the next best thing." Percy hissed venomously, before spinning around in a 360 and slicing Amphitrite's throat wide open. She stared at him in shock before a soft golden fire surrounded her body. After the fire dissipated, her body was gone.

"Um, I didn't make her fade, did I?" Percy asked.

Hades shook his head. "No. You just made her fade temporarily, she'll reform later. Depends on how fast she reforms and her will to live again."

"Oh good." Percy said, obviously relieved.

The gods stared at the puddles of golden blood on the floor before sitting back in their respective thrones.

"Well! Now that that matter is finished, let us decide on what to do with our hero here." Zeus announced. The gods nodded.

"So Perseus, do you still want to die?" Zeus asked.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. Part of me wants to just stay alive, to find something to _fight,_ or _do._ I need something to make life worth living you know. But the problem is, I can't work in the mortal world, my scent is too strong, any building I work in will be overrun by monsters. Sure, I can defend myself, but people see Riptide as a shotgun or something and the monsters as pitiful, kind mortals. Guess who the blame? While being dead, well, at least I could talk to my old friends' right?" Percy said depressingly.

Artemis was rather surprised at how fast Percy's mood changed. Moments ago, he was a death machine, with no mercy and now he was a sad, broken up young man. _Boy_ she corrected herself.

Zeus stroked his chin. "Hmmm, so basically, you need a challenge. Or something to do." He stated. Percy nodded.

 _"How would you like to be an immortal, not a true immortal, but you won't get sick, you won't age, and you'll be harder to kill. Basically, you'll live forever unless you die in battle. And just think of what you want to say, I'll hear it."_ Zeus spoke into Percy's mind.

 _"You mean, the way the Hunters of Artemis are immortal?"_ Percy thought back.

Zeus mentally rolled his eyes. _"Yes, and I can assure you that your new life will not be easy."_ Zeus replied.

 _"Hmmm, depends on what I'm doing. What will I be doing?"_ Percy asked.

 _"You will be Artemis's and her Hunt's Guardian."_ Zeus said.

Percy blanched. _"Are you sure, Lord Zeus? Cause I don't think she'll like that idea much…"_

 _"Ahem. I'm merely asking whether you are willing to serve as Artemis's bodyguard and Guardian of the Hunt for life. Now, answer me."_

Percy paled even more, but not at the thought of Zeus getting angry, but at the thought of what would happen to him when Artemis learned of this. Nevertheless, he responded confidently.

 _"Yes. I'm willing."_ Percy replied.

"Good." Zeus spoke aloud.

"What is it, Father? You and Percy have been speaking for some time already." Artemis asked.

"This concerns you, dear." Zeus said.

"Me? How does this concern _me_?" Artemis asked, confused.

Zeus cleared his throat and shifted. Apparently, even _he_ was afraid of what'd happen. "Well, daughter, as you know, the war is just over. There are a _lot_ of monsters roaming around, and it won't calm down for at least another century. And you, leader of that Hunter group of yours, is in constant danger. It makes sense to take you out or at least weaken your forces since they are so skilled." Zeus said, then paused, thinking on how best to phrase his next words.

"I still don't see how Percy fits into this equation…" Artemis said.

"Equation? You guys need help on an equation? I'm always available!" Athena said happily.

"No, no, this is different." Zeus said distractedly. Athena's face fell.

"Tell me father, because I have a feeling that what you say next is something I won't like." Artemis said.

"Ah, well, might as well be blunt with it. Percy Jackson here will be the Guardian of you and your hunters." Zeus said seriously, staring Artemis straight in the eye.

Artemis's mouth dropped open, pure shock hitting her like a sledgehammer. That quickly turned into a raw fury.

"WHAT? FATHER, THAT IS AN _INSANE_ IDEA! MY HUNTERS WILL NEVER ACCEPT THIS!" Artemis screamed. The other gods looked surprised too, but they had thoughtful looks on their faces.

"Now, daughter, hear me-" Zeus began.

"NO, I WILL NOT. I can't have a _boy_ in the hunt! That's ridiculous! AND I DON'T NEED PROTECTING. I can protect myself perfectly well without any help!" Artemis yelled indignantly.

"Now, Artemis, that's your pride talkin-" Zeus spoke but was cut off by Hera.

"Yeah, like you're a good role model…" Hera muttered.

Zeus gave her a swift glare before returning to his argument with Artemis. "If you remember correctly, you were captured by Atlas and his forces all those years ago and forced under the sky. Percy would protect you loyally and added with his swordsmanship, it makes me feel a lot safer."

"Oh, so _you're_ telling _me_ that Percy can take better care of me than I can myself?" Artemis snapped.

"Look, obviously, his hunting skills are gonna be trash, and his archery is unspeakable. But you have to admit that his swordsmanship rivals your own abilities and might even surpass it in some points. You can teach and train him on the necessary skills, while Percy can train your hunters in sword fighting." Zeus argued right back.

"But he's a boy, he might hit on the hunters!" Artemis argued.

"He would never do that, especially after what happened between him and our architect. And you yourself said that he was the only _man_ on this planet that was worthy of your respect! And didn't he just take a bolt for you six months ago?" Zeus asked.

Artemis flushed but blustered on, even though she knew she was losing. "But-but, um, how do you know he won't chicken out or serve loyally? He's a man, they're all the same!" Artemis said.

Percy's eyes flared. That was a serious insult. He stepped forward and knelt in front of Artemis.

"Lady Artemis, if you accept, I, Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon, hereby swear on the River Styx and by Chaos to be a Guardian to you and the Hunt, I will protect you and the Hunt from harm, I will serve you faithfully and loyally, with all I have, to the limits of my abilities, for eternity." Percy finished in one breath.

Stunned silence. "Percy, my boy, you shouldn't have brought Chaos's nam-" Poseidon began when the room instantly darkened as a tall man appeared out of thin air. The man's entire body was covered in stars, galaxies, miniature explosions, and nebulae. Everyone's jaw instantly dropped as they felt the power radiating from him.

"Well! I must say, haven't been to Earth since forever! Now, who called?" The man asked.

"Um, me." Percy managed to say.

"Ahh, Perseus Jackson. Heard quite a bit about you, boy! You do realize what you're swearing to, don't you? It's a truly unbreakable oath, not like the Styx where it's breakable, just that the consequences are kinda bad. And yes, I'm Chaos." The man said, staring at Percy with supernova filled eyes.

Percy, who was about to ask who he was, flushed. "Yes. I mean it. I'm not going to back out of it." Percy said firmly.

Chaos nodded. He turned and asked Artemis. "Do you accept Perseus's oath?"

Artemis looked around with wide eyes, shock clearly written on her face. "Um, yes, I do…" Artemis squeaked.

"Then I accept your oath and give you a gift, Perseus Jackson." Each of his words resonated with power as a ball of black fire grew in his hands. Then it flew straight at Percy, causing him to stumble backwards. At first, nothing happened. Then he began to glow from the inside, a rich golden colour. It shone brighter and brighter until the gods themselves had to close their eyes. When the golden light faded, they were shocked. Percy was standing there, true, but now he was a toweringly and intimidatingly tall figure of 6'5", with all of his features greatly enhanced. He was wearing a hood that covered most of his face, but his clean cut, sharply chiseled face and broad, powerful shoulders were plainly visible. He had three throwing knives sheathed over each shoulder, so it looked like he had spikes growing out of them. He also had a belt full of throwing knives, all within easy reach. But what shocked the gods the most were the black wings sprouting from his back. They were blacker than midnight, and had huge wingspan of at least 13 feet. Percy yelped when he saw them.

"I have _wings!"_ Percy asked.

"Yes. They are my gift. You can retract them into your body when you don't need them, though, so you'll just have to worry about your big frame."

Percy gave them an experimental flap before retracting them into his back with a _schnnk_ sound. "Sweet." Percy commented.

"And those wings are impenetrable, so you can use them to block arrows or sword strikes. You'll need them, especially since you're guarding a woman as feisty as this one." Chaos commented, pointing at Artemis. "And those knife sheathes replenish themselves every hour, so you won't have to worry much about running out. You are now immortal, unless you fall in battle, since that is what was agreed on, yes?"

Percy bowed. "Yes, and thank you very much, Lord Chaos."

"You're most welcome. Now, I must leave you gods, since I have many other things to do, but I'm pretty sure we'll meet again, Jackson." Chaos said before disappearing in a flash of white light.

"Well. Um, ah, gah, that was a, erm, surprise." Zeus managed to stutter out.

Artemis, however, was back to her old self. "You, boy, don't you dare think I'll make life easy for you. No, on the contrary, it'll be much harder." Artemis said, glaring at Percy with silver eyes.

Internally, Percy flinched. On the outside, he merely bowed and replied, "That's what I expected, m'lady."

"Um, yeah, speaking of which, Percy, I give you my eternal blessing in the hopes of helping you in your, ah, _archery_ lessons with my baby sister." Apollo announced, sending a pulse of golden light at Percy.

Percy winced. "Thank you, Lord Apollo."

"I AM NOT YOUR BABY SISTER, APOLLO!" Artemis screamed, obviously in a bad mood.

Apparently, Apollo picked it up, since he mumbled an apology.

"Percy, I cling to the small hope that you'll forgive me, but I too give you my eternal blessing. It will increase your inborn abilities to the level of a god. You are also now able to summon water within yourself and shoot it out of your hand with ease."

"Dad, I forgive you. It wasn't you, and I understand. Thanks for your blessing dad." Percy replied, bowing.

"It is I who should thank you, son, for the things I did were unforgiveable…" Poseidon muttered, looking downcast, yet happy that Percy had forgiven him.

"Very well, now is that it? Cause it's getting late and I want to go to sleep." Zeus complained.

"Wait. I have something to tell my champion also. Perseus, I also give you my eternal blessing." Hestia said, smiling warmly.

Percy looked slightly confused. " I thought you already gave it to me when I became your champion?" Percy asked.

"That's true. But that was a blessing for a demigod, not an immortal. Now you are immortal, so I can give you my full blessing. It will increase your fire powers to a degree that it'll rival your water abilities. Maybe even surpass them." Hestia said, grinning.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia." Percy said.

"Hey! That's not fair! Percy's my son, his water powers should be higher than his not-supposed-to-have flame powers!" Poseidon yelped indignantly.

"Not my problem. Probably because I can give bigger blessings than you can, brother." Hestia said, throwing Poseidon a smug grin. Poseidon harrumphed and slumped in his chair.

"Alright, now does anyone have anything else to say?" Zeus asked.

"ME! Percy, I give you my blessing too!" Aphrodite squealed.

"Wha-? NO!" Percy yelled, but it was too late. A swirl of white mist covered Percy, and when the mist cleared, Percy stood there in black leather pants, a solid green shirt with 'I love Green Day' written on it with a hood connected to the shirt and his usually messy and spiky black hair was slicked back, giving him a look that screamed 'HOT!'.

Percy glared at Aphrodite with flaming eyes. "This is supposed to help me get along with the Hunters?" Percy almost yelled. But Aphrodite, if she heard, didn't answer, since she was staring at Percy with her mouth wide open.

"Oh man, you make Adonis look as ugly as the pig that killed him…" Aphrodite mumbled.

"HEY! I was the _boar_ that killed Adonis! So you calling me ugly?" Ares yelled.

Aphrodite snapped out of her reverie. "AHA! So you admit that you killed Adonis?" Aphrodite yelled back triumphantly.

Ares gave a mumble. "Um, ah, ahem, er, we'll talk about this later, ok?" Ares whimpered under Aphrodite's glare. Aphrodite gave a stiff nod, gave Ares one last glare before turning her attention back to Percy.

"You know, Aphrodite, I must thank you for this." Artemis said, smirking.

"Wha? Why? Why are you thanking me this time?" Aphrodite asked, confused.

"Because this'll make his life harder with the Hunt." Artemis said, giving Percy an evil grin. In reality, she was using this opportunity to quickly look Percy over, and she had to admit, he looked great. Personally, she thought he looked better with his spiky black hair, but she shoved the thought out of her head. Percy flinched from her gaze and Artemis's grin turned into one of triumph.

"OK, NOW IS THIS ALL?" Zeus thundered, obviously impatient.

"One thing Father. I too wish to give Perseus my blessing." Athena said, turning to Percy. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't ever give this to you, but since you're now a Guardian, you'll need my blessing. It'll give you much faster battle strategy planning and when you survey areas, you can quickly locate and analyze the pros and cons of the situation."

"Ah, that is very kind of you, Lady Athena. Thank you." Percy said, bowing.

"Ok, now is that _all?_ " Zeus asked exasperatedly.

"You forgot one thing, husband." Hera said.

"What is it" Zeus grumped back.

"He's kind of an immortal now, so you should formally welcome him to Olympus." Hera reminded him.

"Very well… Perseus Jackson, I formally welcome you to Olympus and all that yada yada. I also allow you to travel in my domain." Zeus grumbled. Hera rolled her eyes in defeat.

"Thank you for your permission to travel in the air, Lord Zeus." Percy replied.

Zeus gave a grunt. "Now, anything else?" in a tone that indicated he really didn't want people to say anything. Of course, Poseidon ignored it.

"Yes. What should I do about Matthew, Percy?" Poseidon asked.

Percy frowned. "Just treat him like normal. Don't lavish him, but don't punish him or visibly hate him. Remember, the Camp thinks that Matthew is the greatest person to come, so if you kick him off, they won't like it." Percy explained in a monotone.

Poseidon nodded. "Also, Perseus, I shall leave the title of Prince of the Sea vacant, since you're the only one fit for it, and you are a Guardian now. If you have time, please visit."

"That all depends on my lady's command, Father." Percy said formally.

Poseidon nodded, a hint of sadness on his face.

"Oh, and Mr.D, could you break the empathy link I have with Grover Underwood? Because I don't want to get messed up by his… emotions." Percy asked.

Dionysus nodded. "Of course. This should take care of it." He snapped his fingers and a purplish light glowed around Percy's head before dissipating.

"Thank you, Mr.D" Percy said,bowing.

"Not at all, Perry Johnson." Dionysus said, a hint of a smile on his face.

"OK. Council DISMISSED! Perseus, get yourself known to the Hunters, and try not to get killed by them." Zeus thundered, then disappeared in a bang of thunder and a flash of lightning.

"As you say so, God of Theater." Percy joked. The gods chuckled, and one by one they left, leaving only Percy and Artemis alone.

"So what do you want to do, Lady Artemis?" Percy asked, bowing as she got off her throne.

"Don't do that!" She snapped.

"Do what?"

"Bowing. The way you do it. _Everyone_ does it and it's getting so insincere." Artemis grumbled.

"Very well, I shall think of something else then." Percy grinned. He had to admit that Artemis looked absolutely beautiful, especially since she was angry, which brought a cute blush to her face. He quickly averted his gaze so she wouldn't catch him looking, which was rather hard since he was almost a foot taller than she was.

"Grin all you like, boy, because soon you're not going to be grinning at all." Artemis said, giving Percy a sly look. "Adirondack Park, that's where our camp is. See you." With that, she disappeared in a flash of light.

The instant she left, Percy felt a slight tug in his mind, directing him to where Artemis was. _Awesome, I have an internal tracking system._ Percy thought cheerfully. He extended his wings, relishing the feel and the strength in them as they popped out with the same _schnnk_ sound. He bent his legs and shot into the air. He gave a whoop of delight at the speed and angled himself downwards, diving faster than a peregrine falcon. He then realized that with his wings, Chaos had also enhanced his vision to that of an eagle. Or maybe it was because he was part immortal now. But even from so high up, he instantly spotted Artemis, who was walking into the park, having teleported to the edge. Percy grinned. Maybe he could eavesdrop on their conversation before popping out. He angled his wings and dived even faster, the air whistling as he shot through the air. He was also pleasantly surprised that his brain was automatically analyzing the entire layout, picking out small details and forming battle plans if it came to battle. He grinned. _Thanks Athena._

 _"Hey son, I have a thing to tell you, didn't want the other gods, especially Artemis to know you have this ability."_ Poseidon spoke in his mind.

" _Oh hey dad, what is it?"_ Percy asked.

" _You can change your body molecules to water now. Basically, you can transform yourself into a puddle of water and "slide" over the ground at a much faster pace than running."_ Poseidon said.

" _Oh wow, that's awesome Dad, thanks a lot!"_ Percy replied, grinning.

" _You are most welcome son, just be careful that in water form, if you get cut or hurt, you'll also have the same wound when in normal form."_ Poseidon said. _"I have to go now son, everyone is wondering where Triton and Amphitrite went, but hopefully you and I will have time to catch up."_

 _"Definitely dad, and thanks for the warning."_ Percy said.

" _Bye son."_ Poseidon said, leaving his mind.

Percy looked closely at the ground and found that Artemis had just reached the Hunter's camp borders. He quickly thought of turning himself into water and felt himself melting. He realized he could still control his muscles like normal, just that he was in a liquid form. _This is_ awesome! Percy thought, as he climbed or slithered up to a tree right above Artemis before reforming himself into his normal form. _Now let's see what she has to say._ Percy thought smugly.

 **Artemis**

Artemis decided to teleport to the edge of the park to give herself some time to think before she announced the news to her hunters. She knew that they wouldn't take it well, except for Thalia. Well, Thalia would only take it well if she knew it was Percy. Thalia and Percy had a very close brother-sister relationship, despite the fact that they quarreled constantly and got into fights that usually ended up with Thalia half drowned and Percy fried. Artemis smiled slightly, Thalia was one odd hunter. She tolerated boys more than the other hunters, though if they pissed her off, she was quick to send them to lightning country. She was also very perceptive, an excellent archer, good at knives and astonishingly good with her spear and shield. Artemis had originally thought that no one could beat Thalia in a fight, but after seeing Percy grow in skill and power from the Titan War to the Giant War, she was forced to admit that Percy had a edge in battle against Thalia if using close combat weapons. Even Thalia had grudgingly admitted that Percy was _marginally_ better than her.

Thinking about Percy as a Guardian of the Hunt made her angry again, even though she had absolutely no idea why she was angry.

 _It's because you want him closer to you but you also want to avoid him._ Her subconscious said.

 _Definitely not. I won't fall for any man, even one as great as Perseus._ She argued with herself.

 _Oh ho, did you just call Perseus a great man?_ Her subconscious asked.

Artemis scowled and thrust the thought out of her head. She had reached her hunters encampment and it was time to explain. She walked in and found many of them sitting next to the fire, holding cups of hot chocolate, waiting. Waiting for her. Thalia instantly spotted her and leapt up, putting her cup down.

"My lady, what happened? There were a _lot_ of earthshaking, big storms and several lightning strikes. Did you find out what was wrong with Lord Poseidon? And what took so long? Also, why do you look so pissed off?" Thalia rattled off.

Artemis sighed as she motioned for Thalia to sit down. She stood at the front and addressed all the hunters.

"Hold on. All those questions will be answered. But first, I have some…news." Artemis said.

"What is it, my lady? Judging from your expression, I don't think we'll like it." Phoebe asked.

Artemis took a deep breath. "A bo-man will be joining the hunt." She stated.

Instant pandemonium. There were cries of protests, complaints and then the hunters began bombarding her with questions.

Artemis gave a mental sigh. She had forgotten how these hunters could be so much like children. She raised a hand. Everyone instantly fell silent.

"Look, I don't like this idea either, but Zeus demanded it. He will be our "Guardian" and also my "personal bodyguard" Artemis grumbled, scowling. "As if I can't protect myself."

The hunters sighed. They couldn't do much against Zeus, other than just complain. Phoebe was the most vocal.

"A man? As a guard? Pfft, he'd probably run away at first sight of a battle or just claim all the glory if we succeed in a battle." Phoebe snorted.

Artemis couldn't help but smile a little. "Actually, I can guarantee you that this man will be much, _much_ better than other men."

"I doubt it. Most men are ignorant idiots." Phoebe said. Thalia, however, looked thoughtful.

"Where is he? If he's supposed to be your bodyguard, shouldn't he be with you?" Thalia asked.

Artemis gave a triumphant grin. "I lost him on purpose. I teleported, just told him to find us in Adirondack Park. Fools probably coming on foot in several hours." She smirked.

There was a rustle and a crash as a huge, winged figure landed next to her. "I beg your pardon, my lady. Who's coming on foot?" The figure asked, rising to his full height and brushing the dirt off his pants.

Artemis and the hunters just stared in shock at his sudden appearance. Then the hunters instantly leapt up with their bows, arrows notched straight at Percy.

Artemis quickly got over her shock at the speed which Percy had found them. "Stand down" Artemis commanded. The hunters relaxed slightly but did not lower their bows. Thalia's arrow was still sparking with electricity. She couldn't blame them. With his height, his throwing knives over each shoulder and on his belt, with his wings, he looked like an angel of death. A really good looking angel of death. She walked over to him and punched him in the stomach before asking.

"How did you find us so fast? I thought I lost you!" Artemis said.

"Yes, well, I have some type of internal sensor that can tell where you are. Probably cause I'm the guardian. So no hiding from me." Percy grinned cheerfully.

Artemis gave a low growl. Sure, his grin was great, but right now, it was annoying and the last thing she needed were distractions. She smacked him across the face.

"A Guardian isn't supposed to _spy_." Artemis said.

"I was not spying, I was merely observing, gathering information in case I needed to defend myself." Percy protested, rubbing his cheek.

Artemis rolled her eyes, while Thalia asked Artemis.

"My Lady, is he our Guardian? And why does he sound so familiar?" Thalia asked, frowning slightly.

Artemis realized she was standing closer to Percy than was comfortable and took a step back.

"Yes, he's our Guardian. As to why he sounds so familiar, he's your old friend, Perseus Jackson." Artemis said, reaching forward and yanking off Percy's hood. His eyes glowed a warm, green fire.

Thalia's mouth hung wide open while the Hunter's stared in surprise. "P-Percy, you…eyes..grew…here.. wings?" Thalia stuttered out, blushing as she realized what she said was nonsense.

Percy laughed. "Sounds like you have a lot of questions. Shall I answer them or let m'lady answer them?"

"I'll answer the questions, Perseus. You can go do a sweep of the perimeter, when you're done, report back and tell me the vulnerable spots or the places most likely for an ambush." Artemis said.

"Already done, my lady." Percy replied.

"What? You just came here, how could you be done with it so quickly?" Artemis asked.

"When I was flying here, I was already doing a sweep of the entire park, and I must say, most places are well protected." Percy replied smoothly, giving a slight bow.

"Ok, fine, Perseus, go explore the camp, memorize the layout, _don't touch anything,_ and draw a detailed map with markings showing us the most vulnerable spots and the strongest parts." Artemis ordered.

"As you wish, my lady." Percy replied, clenching his right fist and bring it up to his left shoulder and did a precise 45 degree angle bow. He turned and walked off.

 _Well. That type of bow certainly was different._ Artemis thought before turning to her Hunters.

"Well, a couple minutes of peace. So, fire away." Artemis said resignedly.

Thalia was the first. "What is Percy doing here? Where did he get his wings? His flaming eyes? Why isn't he with Annabeth? And how come he seems to have grown like 3 inches?" Thalia rattled off.

"Ok, first, Thalia, I'll talk to you in private about Annabeth. Now, anyone else they'd like to ask about?" Artemis asked, looking around.

"Yes. Why does our guardian have to be a man? I mean, ok, this is Percy, so he won't be as bad as other men, but still, why? And what about Lord Poseidon? What was wrong with him? Did he cause the earthquakes?" Phoebe asked.

Artemis gave a small sigh. _This is going to take a long time…_ She thought.

"…so basically, he's got nowhere to go and Father thought it'd be a good "idea" to put him here." Artemis finished, after answering thousands of questions, and talking non-stop for several hours. She yawned, and looked at the sky. It was well after midnight. Ugh. And she hadn't eaten or drunk anything for a long time.

"Still, couldn't Lord Zeus put Percy with his father instead? Then he could become some sort of Prince with all that power." Phoebe said derisively.

"Look, I know that most men are bad, but I can guarantee you that Perseus will be the best man you'll ever find. And he's not power hungry. He turned down godhood twice after all." Artemis said. _Oh, the irony. In the throne room I was all but attacking Perseus, and now I'm defending him. Haha._ Artemis thought with amusement.

Her Huntresses didn't look convinced and they looked downcast. That swayed Artemis's heart.

"And besides, he could make a very good servant." She said, sharing a sly smile with Thalia. The hunters instantly brightened up. Then Thalia _had_ to ask the question.

"My Lady, you said that Triton and Amphitrite had a small face off with Percy. But what happened? You just glazed over it." Thalia asked.

She sighed. Count on Thalia to pick it up. "It was nothing. And it's too hard to explain." Artemis said, trying to avoid telling them what happened. "And you wouldn't like to know, it was very, um, _brutal,_ the face off. Very."

Unfortunately, that sparked their interest. Especially Phoebe's. A daughter of Ares, while extremely loyal, still had some characteristics of an Ares child.

"Please, my lady, can you show us? Please?" Phoebe asked. The other Huntresses quickly added in. After several minutes, Artemis relented.

"Ok, ok, fine, but don't tell me I didn't warn you." Artemis warned. The hunters nodded. She pointed her hand at the fire, and it turned into a silvery mist. Pictures formed and the hunters leaned forward eagerly. Artemis watched their faces closely and was quite unsurprised when their expressions turned to shock and horror at how ruthless Percy was. Even Phoebe seemed horrified. When the vision finally ended, the hunters looked at each other with sick expressions.

"I did warn you, you know." Artemis said calmly.

"But…but my lady, he killed a women!" One of her hunters exclaimed.

Artemis shrugged. "I'm forced to admit that Amphitrite deserved it. And Percy was very merciful, he did not put Amphitrite through the torture he did to Triton. And he offered her a chance to back out. So it's her fault she's dead for now." Artemis said.

"And yet, I regret it." A voice behind her spoke. She flinched and turned around to find Perseus standing-no, _towering_ – over her, holding a big plate of food that smelled absolutely delicious. Her stomach instantly growled and she felt angry at Percy for bringing the food here.

He saw her look and grinned. "Hungry?" He asked teasingly.

She was almost salivating. "Yes. And dead thirsty too." Artemis grumbled, eyeing him with pure jealousy. Then he surprised her by putting the plate of food on her lap and handing her a rolled up napkin with a knife, fork and spoon wrapped in it.

"Thought so. Hope you like the food by the way, it's my first time trying something different with it." He said.

She looked at him in surprise. "You made this for me?" She asked dumbly.

"Yes. Of course. Who else?" Percy asked as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

 _That was very kind of you._ Artemis thought, but on the outside she merely muttered "Nothing" and attacked her food savagely. It tasted great. She had never known he could cook so well!

"Whoa there, m'lady, slow down, or you'll choke. Water?" He asked.

"Yes please." She mumbled around a mouthful of food.

Percy laughed and stretched out his hand. A ball of water formed and hardened into a goblet filled with clear liquid. She eyed it suspiciously.

Percy saw her look. "I swear on the Styx that this is the clearest and purest water you can get anywhere on this planet." Thunder boomed and after a few moments, seeing nothing happened, she picked it out of his hand and downed the entire goblet.

"Surprising. Fresher than the water Poseidon gives us." Artemis commented.

"Why, thank you m'lady, this must be a breakthrough! My Lady complimenting a man!" Percy joked.

She gave him a death glare before whipping her hand around and smashing into the side of his knees causing him to crash to the ground. The hunters laughed.

He groaned as he got up. "Ow. Not even Thalia could do that" He said as he stumbled over and sat on her bench. Instantly, all the hunters raised their bows and pointed them at him. His eyes widened in realization and he quickly leapt backwards, looking wary.

"Um, what'd I do?" Percy asked in his usual manner.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Gods, you are still the same old Seaweed Brain. It's because you're not supposed to sit next to Artemis since you're a man." Thalia quickly explained, struggling to hold back a smile. "By the way, I love your shirt." She said, walking forward to give him a hug.

"Oh." He blushed, "Sorry m'lady, forgive me." He said to Artemis. To Thalia, he said, "Humph, that shirt was Aphrodite's. She gave me her "blessing". I think it's a curse." Thalia laughed.

Artemis smiled. "It's alright. Don't worry about the hunters, they won't shoot you as long as you follow some ground rules."

"And what are these ground rules?" Percy asked warily.

"Well, for starters, you do whatever I say, whenever I say it. You must treat the huntresses with respect, don't hit on them, don't talk back, listen to me when I'm speaking, work when you're instructed, and stay in your limits." Artemis rattled off with a flourish, popping a spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth.

"You make it sound like you hired me as a valet…" Percy grumbled.

"Not exactly. Slave is more like it" Artemis said with a devious smirk. Percy returned it with a scowl.

"I knew it! This is going to be my own personal Underworld!" Percy exclaimed. "Besides, aren't I supposed to be a Guardian, not a busboy?"

Artemis smirked. "Well, first of all, if you want to be part of the hunt, you gotta know how to hunt, and how to shoot. Second, they say stress kills right? Well, you can protect me from the stress by doing all the hard work." Artemis said, smirking triumphantly.

"As you wish, my lady" Percy grumbled, crossing his chest with his right hand clenched in a fist.

"Why do you do that anyway? The cross your chest with a clenched fist thing." Artemis asked.

Percy looked surprised. "You wanted something different than the normal bow. I've decided to use this mark of respect and obedience exclusively with you."

"Oh. That's nice, thank you." Artemis said.

Percy merely bowed his head. "Now, where's the map I told you to draw?" Artemis asked.

"Right here, my lady." Percy replied, reaching behind his back and taking out a long roll of thick paper.

Artemis quickly balanced the plate on her knees and studied the map, seriously impressed at how detailed and precise it was. "Impressive" she muttered under her breath. The instant she said it, she winced. She hoped Perseus didn't hear it. Unfortunately, he did.

"Beg your pardon, my lady, what did you say?" Percy asked with an expression that obviously meant he heard it.

"Don't rub it in, boy!" Artemis snapped. "Alright, off you go, you have some free time before you have to sleep and start working."

Percy bowed and got ready to leave but was stopped by Thalia.

"Hey, hold on a second, Percy, when in _Hades_ did you learn how to cook? And second, you said you regretted making Amphitrite fade, if only for a little bit. Why?" Thalia asked.

"Answer to your first question is for me to know, and you to find out." Percy grinned. "Second answer to your second question. Well, she _was_ a woman after all, and that went against everything my m-mom taught me. Sure, she was cruel and mean, but… I don't know. It just makes me feel bad for some reason…Unlike with Triton, where I actually _enjoyed_ killing him." Percy said sadly.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. She was a great women. I loved her. I'm sure she and Paul got into Elysium." Thalia said in a comforting tone.

"Thanks. I just wish I had time to say good bye to them one last time…" Percy whispered. The hunters looked uncomfortable, since they were used to arrogant men or just plain idiotic men, not sad, heartbroken men.

 _"Message for Perseus Jackson. Lady Artemis, do I have permission to broadcast this in your camp?"_

Artemis's eyes narrowed. "Iris. Well, depends on who it is, of course." She said, motioning for the hunters to hide.

 _"It's from Nico Di Angelo, coming from the Underworld."_

Artemis looked at Percy, who nodded with a pained expression. "Yes, you have my permission."

The air in front of Percy shimmered, and Nico's face appeared.

"Percy! You alright? Are you hurt?" Nico asked frantically.

"No, I'm alright. Emotionally hurt, yes, but physically, no. Where are my parents? Elysium or Asphodel?" Percy asked.

Nico looked shocked. "How did you know?"

"Chiron told me. Apparently, he kept an eye on my mom's apartment, and rushed over when he heard there was an explosion. He told me they were dead." Percy replied in a monotone.

"Oh ok. Sorry for telling you so late, I just got them out of Asphodel-"

"WHAT? They weren't let into Elysium at once?" Percy growled, eyes smoldering.

Nico flinched. "Um, no, Minos ruled against Jefferson and Washington. I just forced Minos to let them into Elysium."

"Minos." Percy growled. The ground at his feet began smoking. "Well, at least in the end, they're in Elysium. Thank you Nico."

"You're welcome Percy. And I'm sorry about their death, I really liked your mom. And your step dad was a surprisingly good fighter."

Percy nodded dumbly. "See you later Nico, and take care of Mrs. O'Leary."

"Will do. Bye bro." Nico said, cutting off the connection with a wave of his hand.

Percy covered his face with his hands, taking a shuddering breath.

"They're in Elysium now, so you don't have to worry about them anymore, Perseus." Artemis said soothingly.

Percy nodded. "Just angry at Minos." He commented. "I'm alright now."

"Good. Now, I suggest we all get a good rest. Percy, you're tent is there, and inside, you'll find a complete list of what you're supposed to do." Artemis said, smirking as she pointed to a tent that was behind Artemis's.

Percy did the special bow, and walked off towards his tent. As he walked off, Artemis just couldn't help but smile.

"My Lady, what are you smiling about?" Phoebe asked her.

Artemis just grinned wider. "I just can't wait to see how well Perseus will be doing after I'm done with him." She said.

The other hunters and Artemis all shared evil smiles. _This is going to be very, very fun._ Artemis thought. _Very fun._


	8. Chapter 8

**Percy**

Percy walked into his tent, his eyes already scanning the entire room, carefully looking out for traps and the likes. He found none, and gave a sigh of relief. He was rather surprised at how comfy his tent was. And it looked a lot bigger from the inside than the outside. His tent had a comfy looking bed that was large enough to fit his newly increased frame with a simple wooden dresser. There was also a desk and a chair, even though he had no idea what that was supposed to be used for. Then he noticed a piece of paper lying on the desk. He walked over, picked it up and read it.

 _To Perseus Jackson, Guardian (And Slave!) of the Hunt,_

 _Get up at 10 am, and report to my tent. The chores that you are mandated to do includes cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner, sharpening the arrows, knives and swords, and washing the clothes. Among other things. Oh, and remember, after today, you have to wake up at 6 am. I'm only letting you and the rest sleep so late because we're behind schedule. Now, go to sleep._

 _A_

 _"Definitely my own personal underworld…"_ Percy thought glumly before putting the list down and crashing onto bed and falling into a deep sleep. He was woken up by a huge surge of electricity. He instantly shot up, expecting Thalia to be in his tent, laughing her head off. Instead, his tent was empty, and nothing was moved. He looked at the clock. 7:30 am. He frowned. That shock was very strong, which meant either Zeus, which was unlikely, or Thalia was very angry and very pissed. Percy got out of his tent as quickly and quietly as he could, following the source of electricity, Riptide uncapped in his right hand and his left hand already hovering near his three knives on his shoulder. To his surprise, instead of leading to Thalia's tent, he sensed it coming from Artemis's tent. He also felt and saw a silvery suppressing magic that seemed to be dimming the shock down to a low buzz. He stopped in front of the tent and tried to listen but all he could hear was muffled and indistinct noises.

"My Lady? Is everything alright? Can you hear me?" Percy asked in a loudish voice. No answer. He frowned. He decided to try knocking. Unfortunately for him, his hand made contact with the door at the same moment another pulse of electricity shot through the barrier. The instant his hand touched the door, there was a loud _Crack!_ And he felt himself flying backwards, his hand literally smoking. More bad luck for him. He landed face down in front of a Hunters tent with a loud crash. The next thing he knew, he was instantly flipped over with a foot pushing against his throat. He opened his eyes and to his horror, recognized the girl as Phoebe. _Oh shit…_ Percy thought.

Phoebe's eyes flared when she saw him. She whipped out her knife, putting it right next to his neck. "You _dare_ try to sneak into our tent, boy?" She screamed.

The other hunters, woken up by the commotion, notched their arrows, pointing straight at his head. _Hades, what'd I do to deserve this?_ Percy thought.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Phoebe just stepped down harder, choking him. "No. I don't want to listen to your disgusting words and lies, boy, instead I think I'll-" Phoebe snarled, but stopped as they heard Artemis and Thalia talking or yelling at the entrance of her tent

"Ok, listen Thalia, I will _not_ permit you to go and give her a piece of your mind, no matter how much I dislike what she did and no matter how much she des-"

"But my lady, she _was_ my best friend along with Percy, closer than Jason, and when she just did something so..so _stupid_ that I can't help but just find a place to vent my anger! I can't believe that she could have been such a _bitch!_ " Thalia was ranting.

"Thalia, watch your language." Artemis said.

"I'm sorry. It's just that, agh, _ugh!_ My Lady, I request that I get Percy up to have a fight with him, it'll give me a vent. And I want to see how good he is with those twin swords of his." Thalia asked.

The tent door opened. "Permission gran-" Artemis stopped short when she saw Percy on the ground with Phoebe crushing his throat and the other huntresses pointing their arrows at him.

Artemis's and Thalia's eyes widened. "Perseus! Phoebe! What happened?"

"We found him in front of my tent, my lady, and _I_ think that he was trying to sneak in." Phoebe said.

Artemis raised an eyebrow when Phoebe said that. "I highly doubt that."

Phoebe looked confused. "Why?"

Artemis gave a small chuckle. "Phoebe, Phoebe, after all these years, you still havn't learned to look first and act second. Look at the left side of his shirt. Looks pretty charred to me. His left hand fingertips are bleeding. His fingernails are cracked, and he _smells_ a bit burnt. And as much as I dislike Perseus, he would _never_ try to sneak into a huntresses tent. So get your foot off his throat." Artemis commanded.

Phoebe took her foot off meekly as she realized that what Artemis had said was, indeed, true. Percy slowly got up, massaging his throat while looking down at himself. All in all, Percy thought that he was pretty well off, he had suffered worse wounds than this when fighting with Thalia.

"However, Perseus, I would like to know what you are doing so early in the morning. I fully expected to call Thalia and shock you awake." Artemis inquired.

Percy laughed. "Ironically enough, that's what happened. I was woken up by a large shock as if I walked into an electric field. I instantly got out of my tent and traced the source to your tent. When I called you, you didn't answer, so I tried knocking. I think the moment I touched the door, Thalia must've let loose another wave of electricity."

Artemis sent Thalia a look, whose mouth had dropped open. "Oh my gods, Percy, I'm so sorry, I was just, um, kinda angry, and I uh, well…"

"Lost control" Percy finished.

"Yeah… anyway, sorry about that." Thalia mumbled.

Percy gave a chuckle. He walked over to Thalia and clapped a hand on Thalia's shoulder. "You're not the only one, you know. Camp Half Blood currently has a destroyed Demeter cabin, about a quarter of the forest is gone, and let's just say that it'll be _extremely_ hard to invade that camp through the beach." Percy finished rather sheepishly.

"That makes me feel better." Thalia gave Percy a sly look. "You still up for that fight?"

"Anytime. My Lady, do I have permission?" Percy asked Artemis.

Artemis gave Percy a wicked grin. "Yup. You have my permission."

Percy gave Artemis a wary look before turning to Thalia. "Alright, let's go. Race you there?"

"You are soo going to lose." Thalia said before sprinting off with a Hunter's speed and grace. Percy smirked before extending his wings. He leapt into the air like a rocket before shooting downwards at a blurring speed.

"I suggest you girls go watch the fight." Artemis said.

"Why? We all know Thalia's going to beat up the boy's ass." Phoebe said.

Artemis shook her head. "Thalia won't. But _I_ will." Artemis said, a glint in her eyes. The hunter's instantly agreed. Artemis nodded and snapped her fingers, transporting all of them to the training arena. They turned and saw Percy and Thalia facing each other, stating the rules.

"No powers. Cause if you use powers, you'd beat me up easily." Thalia said.

Percy nodded. "No archery either. That'd be unfair. But throwing knives are completely welcome."

"No way! I have like six throwing knives. You have what, 30?" Thalia argued.

"Ok, ok, fine. Just close combat, skill only. The person loses when he or she admits defeat or a blade to the throat or something." Percy stated.

Thalia nodded. "Alright, I'm ready." She said, pulling out her spear and slapping her bracelet, causing it to transform into Aegis. Percy didn't flinch or cower, he was so used to seeing the gorgon's head that he was kinda immune to it. However, it was still a unbreakable shield, and he'd have to knock it away.

Percy leapt back, drawing both of his swords, holding them low at his side. Thalia leapt forward, jabbing at a pretty fast pace in all directions, but Percy calmly deflected the point and took a step forward. Spears were only good at a distance, they were practically useless in very close combat. Thalia then began slashing with her spear in zig zagging motions, holding her shield in front of her and charging. Percy cursed. Unlike Jason, Thalia was _extremely_ skilled with a spear. Percy parried her blows, then ducked underneath and lashed out with his feet, smashing into her shield. Thalia tumbled backwards, and Percy took the chance to leap after her, bring both swords down. She rolled to the side, leapt up and brought her spear down in a smashing motion. Percy took his chance.

He leapt to his right, bringing both of his swords up with as much force as he could. Spear and swords hit with a jarring clash and Thalia's spear flew away. Percy then smacked her thigh with the flat of his blade, as she stumbled, he leapt behind her and crouched down, putting his two swords into one and pulling a dagger out before holding it right in front of Thalia's throat. She froze.

"Well?" Percy asked. "I'm waiting."

"Fine. You win." Thalia grumbled.

Percy laughed as he pulled Thalia up. "You know, it's only anger release if you win, not if you lose. If you lose, that just adds up." Percy said.

"Oh thanks Percy, as if I didn't know that." Thalia said sarcastically, cranky about the fact that Percy managed to defeat her so quickly. "How did you do it? You're way faster than before, when you fought the giants, you were fast and good yeah, but I could last at least 15 minutes with you. What changed?"

"You can thank the Amazons for that. They created the Percy Jackson levels, where it's supposed to be unbeatable. Trust me, they're _tough._ And also, did I just hear you telling me that I'm better than you?" Percy asked teasingly.

"DON'T RUB IT IN, JACKSON!" Thalia yelled at him, sparks dancing around her.

"Ok, ok, jeez, calm down Thals, you seriously need some anger management." Percy smirked.

Thalia gave him a death glare before stomping off to join Artemis and the other huntresses, who were rather surprised that Percy was able to fight. Artemis, meanwhile, was barely holding back a smile as she watched Percy and Thalia arguing. _So similar to how I argue and yell with Apollo._ Artemis thought wryly.

"Perseus." Artemis called out.

Percy instantly turned to her. "Yes my lady?"

"Are you warmed up?" Artemis asked, smiling slightly. A smile that should've warned Percy.

"Of course. Why? Want me to do laundry, cook breakfast and whatnot?" Percy asked.

"Oh, of course I want you to do those stuff. And a lot more. But first, you're absolutely sure you're warmed up?" Artemis asked again.

"Yup. Perfectly warmed up." Percy replied.

"Good." Artemis said before leaping at him, her knives already out of their sheathes, cross cutting at high speed. Percy barely managed to leap backwards to avoid get a nice cut on his chest as he quickly drew both of his swords. Artemis just continued, raining quick and fast blows down at him, not giving him respite. Percy cursed as he ducked, a blade swinging just above his head. _Damn, she's fast!_ He gathered himself, and began pushing back, swinging his sword faster. Soon, both of them stopped moving as they stood face to face, blades whirling, Percy's bronze swords causing bronze streaks in the air and Artemis's silver knives causing silver streaks. Each of them was trying to overpower the other. Percy finally disengaged, aimed a wild kick at Artemis, and spun in a 360, smashing into Artemis's blades with enough force to knock them away. Artemis's eyes widened as she realized what happened but then did something unexpected. She leapt forward at Percy, crashing into him, sending both of them tumbling. Percy dropped both of his swords so he wouldn't accidentally impale Artemis with it and reached for his dagger and a throwing knife. There was a blur of movement, and the next thing he knew, Artemis was on top of him with a arrow jammed under his jaw while he was holding onto Artemis's other wrist and had his dagger at Artemis's throat. They stared at each other.

"So, you admit defeat?" Artemis murmured, unable to talk normally due to the dagger at her neck.

Percy shook his head. "Odds are better on my side, seeing as your arrow is under my jaw and I have a blade at your neck." He managed to whisper out.

Artemis glared at him as she realized what he said was partially true. "A draw then." Artemis said.

Percy gave the slightest of a nod. He withdrew his dagger as Artemis pulled her arrow away. Surprisingly, Artemis bent down and helped Percy up.

"Thank you, m'lady." Percy said, standing up.

Artemis nodded. "Good job. Now that I know what you level you are, I can assure you our future fights won't be so easy."

Percy smiled his trademark crooked smile. "Easy? You look a little worn out, m'lady, you sure you don't want to go back to sleep?"

Artemis blushed involuntarily at his smile. "No. I want you to get started on cooking. The hunter's will tell you what they want to eat. Now, get going." Artemis snapped.

Percy bowed. "As you wish. But what about you? What do you want to eat?" Percy asked.

Artemis laughed scornfully. "No thanks. I'm not hungry. Besides, I don't think I want to eat _your_ cooking."

Percy raised an eyebrow." What about last night? Or actually, early this morning?"

Artemis looked thrown off by the comment. "Uh.. well, I was starving that time, so anything would have tasted good." She said defensively.

Percy smirked. "As you wish, my lady." He turned to Thalia and the rest of the huntresses. "So, what do you ladies want?"

Thalia and the rest conferred briefly. "Alright, since this is your first time, we'll go easy. Just normal bacon, scrambled eggs, chopped up potatoes and French toast please, Kelp for Brains."

Percy nodded. "14 servings yes? And how many strips of bacon on each plate?"

Thalia nodded."14 huntresses, not including my lady. And 4 strips of bacon on each."

Percy nodded again. He turned to Artemis. "You _sure_ you don't want anything m'lady?"

"No, I already told you. Maybe when you improve in your cooking skills, then yes. But now, no thanks." Artemis replied grumpily, probably miffed by the fact that Percy gave her such a workout.

"Alright. Where are the tables?" Percy asked.

"Right here" Artemis replied, snapping her fingers and transporting them all to the "dining area", more like a place where the huntresses sat together and just talked.

"Alright, take a seat and I can see if this works." Percy said.

Artemis looked wary. "What do you mean? And how do you expect to cook things so fast?"

"Please, just sit down." Percy said, smiling slightly.

Artemis sat at the head with Thalia on her right and Phoebe on her left, the other huntresses sitting randomly.

"Ok. So what are you gonna do?" Artemis asked.

"Watch" was all Percy said.

Percy waved his hand over the table and clapped his hands. There was a brief burst of green fire on the table, and suddenly , the air was filled with the rich smell of perfectly cooked bacon, properly baked potatoes and excellently done scrambled eggs. Everyone's mouth dropped wide open. In front of every huntress, was a plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast and potatoes. Beside each person was a saucer of maple syrup and ketchup. Thalia hesitantly reached forward and picked a piece of bacon off, examining it before taking a bite. There was slight crunching sound as she bit into it, the outside perfectly done, and the inside nice and juicy. Thalia's eyes widened.

"Exquisite" Thalia said with awe. The other huntresses also took a piece of their choice, dipping it in syrup or ketchup before popping it into their mouths. Each and every huntresses eyes widened.

"Wow." They breathed. Artemis was bemused. She turned to Thalia. "May I?" she asked. Thalia nodded. Artemis carefully took a piece of bacon before popping it into her mouth. She munched on it, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Wow. That was actually pretty darn good." Artemis admitted. The huntresses nodded in agreement.

"So, how does it taste? You girls like it?" Percy asked, a smug smile on his face.

"Definitely love it."Thalia said. The other huntresses were quick to voice their agreement.

"Glad to hear that. Now, my lady, what are you going to be eating?" Percy asked, looking down at Artemis with a smirk on his face.

Artemis looked up at his face, blushing with embarrassment. "Um, well, er, can you make me a plate too?" She asked, embarrassed.

"Excuse me my lady, but what did you say?" Percy said, grinning cockily.

Artemis gritted her teeth. "I said, could you make me a plate too?"

Percy grinned. _Damn, she is so cute when she's put on the spot._ He quickly pulled himself together "Of course, my lady. No problem." He snapped his fingers and a plate of the same stuff as the hunters appeared. "Go eat your fill. If you want more, I can always make more."

Artemis instantly reached for her fork but stopped. "What are you going to eat then?

"Me? I'll just eat a slice of pizza or munch on a chicken leg, with your permission." Percy said simply.

"Ok. But at least sit at the end of the table over there. It's more comfortable than standing."

Percy's eyes flicked to the two huntresses sitting opposite of Artemis. They were now glaring daggers at him. "That's alright. I'm content to stand behind you. A slice of pizza doesn't require a plate anyway. Now, you should start eating before it gets cold." Percy said, making a slice of pizza materialize in his hand.

Barely had the words left his mouth than Artemis and the Hunters attacked their food. In less than 5 minutes, the plates were perfectly clean.

"Well, I must admit, that was… pretty good." Artemis said.

"Yes it was. But Percy, tell me, how come you can do this? Which god or goddess did you get this from? You got fire from Hestia. But where in _Hades_ did you get this summoning food ability?" Thalia asked, very curious.

Percy grinned. "Through Hestia. She's a goddess of the hearth right? All those things with family, it's under her control. The good meals, like excellent, home cooked meals that everyone is _supposed_ to have, I have some control over it too. Unfortunately, I can only summon food to a certain extent. The super fancy types of food, nope, I won't be able to. But anything from macaroni and cheese to turkey's, no problem. No fish though, I absolutely refuse to do fish."

"Wow. That's cool. You're our own personal cook!" A hunter said gleefully.

"Yes. That is quite nice. But since this is so easy for you Perseus, then I think you have more time to do other chores." Artemis said, smiling a evil smile.

Percy's eyes widened. "What do you mean." He asked warily.

"Oh, nothing. Just go do the laundry, and I'll hand out the rest." She smirked."And girls, go start training. We're late, it's already in the afternoon" Artemis said after taking a look at the sky.

The hunters left quickly, with Thalia in the lead. "Whoa, you can tell the time just by looking at the sky?" Percy asked.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Yes, boy, by the position of the sun, stars and the moon. I suppose I will have to teach it to you soon." Artemis groaned.

"Alright… so, where do I go to do the laundry?" Percy asked.

"Over by the river. You'll find the clothes already there. And there are the proper zip lines to try them too." She smirked. "I trust you'll have a lot of fun. But first, you can clean the dishes." Artemis ordered.

"No problem. Rather grumpy today, aren't you my lady?" Percy asked cheerfully as he raised his hand, shot a blast of high powered water at the plates, and then dried and sanitized them with a burst of fire. "All done, my lady."

The grin on Percy's face infuriated Artemis since it quirked his perfectly shaped lips into a adorable shape. "We'll be seeing who's the happy one and who's the grumpy one after today is done, _boy._ Don't forget, you need to learn how to shoot." Artemis smirked. She had the intense pleasure of seeing fear crossing Percy's face before flashing herself off.

Percy shook his head when she disappeared. "Women… are the weirdest beings on this planet. Mortal or immortal…" Percy muttered, flying himself towards the river. He would never admit that he liked Artemis, which was the only reason why he obeyed her commands. _Wait a moment.I like Artemis? No way. I only agreed because I have nothing to do._ Percy thought. He cringed at how hollow the thought sounded. _Ugh. Aphrodite, stop messing with my mind!_ Percy thought furiously. If she heard, she made no sign that she had heard. Chances were she hadn't heard. He dove down, landing at the shore of the river. And right there, was a massive pile of clothing, piled at least 4 feet high. _That's a lot… but I can control water so maybe it won't be too bad…_

Five hours later, a swearing and sweating Percy Jackson had just finished hanging up the last of the garments that Artemis and the huntresses had piled on top of him. Percy swore, not caring who heard him, and stretched his back, wincing at the cracks he heard. Washing clothes had been a nightmare. He had originally thought he could swish them in circle like a washing machine, but what happened instead was a huge pile of tangled up clothes. It had taken him several hours to separate all of them and wash them one by one. Then came the part of hooking up the zip lines. He had found the lines on a table and without looking for instructions, began trying to find the places to hook them. After several frustrating minutes, he finally found a small note attached to the tables leg, telling him to hang them on two poles that he had not seen. After several minutes trying to find how to attach them properly, he began lifting the clothes and clamping them onto the line, his back and arms sore from constant bending and lifting.

Percy cursed again, looking at the long lines of wet clothes. Artemis wanted them dry and crisp. The keyword was 'crisp'. If she just wanted them dry, then all he had to do was force the water out of the clothes and ta-da, job done. But nooo, she wanted 'crisp'. Which meant he had to dry them with his fire powers. He raised his arms and shot a gentle stream of fire towards the clothes, using his water abilities to tell when they were dry enough and stopping every once in a while to check if they were "crisp".

Unbeknownst to him, a certain goddess was watching in the shadows of the woods. Artemis stood in the shadows, watching Percy laboring about. She was deeply impressed and surprised at just how different Percy was from other men. _Hell, even other_ people. Artemis thought. Other people, even her most obedient huntress would have long since gone to her to ask for a break, or complain about doing so much laundry. She had fully expected Percy to come back to her and start complaining like the male he was, but instead, Percy had obediently listened to her commands and was dutifully following her instructions to the letter. It was…touching. And intriguing. That made Artemis scowl again. She hated it that this young male had a way of impressing and getting at her, despite the fact he had absolutely no idea about it. She would have to distance herself and just dump more work on him. And annoy him. Artemis smiled. That was a good plan. She stepped into the light and called out,

"Having fun, Perseus?" Artemis asked in a taunting voice.

Percy jerked and whirled around. He scowled slightly. "Will you stop calling me that?"

Artemis frowned slightly. "Call you what?"

"Perseus. Please don't call me that, it makes me feel old and uncomfortable." Percy explained.

Artemis smiled and leaned against a tree. "Yeah? Or what?" She asked teasingly.

Percy struggled to hold back a blush as he saw Artemis leaning sexily against the tree. "Ummm…. I don't know?" He managed to get out as he wrenched his eyes away from her.

Thankfully, Artemis didn't seem to notice. "Well then, I suppose there is nothing to stop me from calling you Perseus." Artemis said.

Percy rolled his eyes. "As you wish, Moon Beam." Percy said with a crooked grin.

Artemis froze. She was getting _really_ annoyed with that catching grin of his. " _What_ did you call me?" She managed to choke out.

Percy gave her a perfectly innocent look. "Nothing, my lady. I was just, _testing,_ my ammunition." Percy smirked. "Anyways, I'm done with the laundry. Can I go rest now? I'm sore and tired."

Artemis was so surprised that he had finished the laundry while they were talking that she completely forgot about his 'Moon Beam' comment.

"Excellent. And no, you can't rest. My hunters have been waiting to take a bath. And you need to sharpen the arrows. I'm sure you know how to use a whetstone, yes?"

Percy groaned. "Yes, I know how to use a whetstone. And what do you mean, waiting for me to take a bath? Can't they just take one in the river or the lake? Isn't that what they usually do?"

Artemis nodded. "That's true. But they were waiting for you for two reasons. One, they needed the clothes. Second, since you're here, you can heat up a nice pool of water for them, instead of dipping themselves in the ice cold water." Artemis smirked.

"Fine… Oh, so you mean that I won't have to do laundry for a couple days?" Percy said hopefully.

Artemis smiled. "Nope. Since you're so proficient at laundry, it means that my hunters can rough and tumble as much as they want."

"Very well. Roman style bath then?" Percy asked resignedly.

Artemis paused. "That works. And make sure the water is warm, not too hot and not too cold."

Percy did his special bow. "As you wish, Moon Beam." He muttered quietly.

Artemis shot him a glare before calling her hunters. Percy smirked and raised his arms, calling water from the river and hardening it into a huge pool, plenty of space for 14 girls to swim and play around. He then began calling on his flame powers to heat it up, until it was steaming.

"This warm enough my lady or hotter?" Percy called out.

Thalia skipped over and dipped her hand into it. "Perfect, Kelp Head. Now, move it, we need to take a bath."

Percy turned and almost fainted as he saw how muddy and dirty the huntresses clothes were. It looked as if they were wrestling and just messing around on the ground. He groaned.

Thalia saw his look and smirked. "This is just the beginning. We'll _try_ to stay clean, but it's kinda hard when we don't have to wash the clothes. Now, scat."

Percy walked off, grumbling as he went. Artemis fell in line with him, chortling.

"So, you want to know what you are going to do next, _Perseus?_ " Artemis asked.

"Oh, yes please, Moon Beam, I absolutely can't wait." Percy said sarcastically.

Artemis gritted her teeth. "When. Are. You. Going. To. Stop. Calling. Me. _Moon Beam?"_

Percy smirked. "When you stop calling me Perseus, my lady."

"In your dreams, Perseus." Artemis shot back.

"Then the same goes for you, Moon Beam." Percy said, clearly unruffled.

"I _demand_ that you stop calling me _Moon Beam!"_ Artemis hissed.

"You know, I'd say that you want me to stop calling you 'Moon Beam' way more than I want you to stop calling me 'Perseus'. And anyways, what's the harm in creating a nickname?" Percy said, grinning.

Artemis flushed. _It's because a nickname from you will just make it harder for me to distance myself!_ Artemis thought. Out loud she said, "Forget about it. I'll get back at you later, Perseus. Now, since you know how to use a whetstone, and we need sharp arrows, go sharpen that pile. And hopefully you can finish it by dinnertime." Artemis said, pointing to a huge pile of neatly stacked arrows.

Percy froze as he looked it, a look of horror crossing his face. "How many arrows are in that pile?" He asked, horrified.

Now it was Artemis's turn to grin. "Oh, enough to last a day or so."

Percy turned to her. "A _day?_ You use that many arrows in a _day?_ "

"Actually, no, but since you're doing the sharpening, we don't need to be careful, right? So, off you go, I'll come and tell you when the Hunter's want to eat." Artemis said, smirking as she disappeared in a soft silver light.

 _Oh man…_ Percy thought as he looked at the pile of arrows. _I better hurry up…_

Four hours later, a cramped and sweaty Percy toppled off the whetstone-bike that he had to pedal to sharpen the arrows to a razor sharp point. Thank the gods he hadn't broken any of the arrows. Percy was ready to swear that the huntresses had purposely dulled the arrows to a blunt tip. He lay on the ground, massaging the cramps that he had in his calves. _If this is what life as a Guardian is going to be, I'm going to die from overwork than from battle._ Percy thought. He heard footsteps approaching and struggled to sit up. He looked up and saw a smiling Artemis. The instant he saw Artemis, all of his pains seemed to magically disappear. She just had the breathtaking, natural, beautiful look that Aphrodite couldn't ever hope to match and a slim figure that came naturally.

"Well done, Perseus. Those blunt tipped arrows weren't made to be that sharp." Artemis said, rather impressed.

Percy stopped admiring Artemis and stared at her in shock. " _What?_ Those were blunt-tipped arrows? I thought they were just dull arrows that were notoriously hard to sharpen!" Percy half-yelled indignantly.

Artemis smirked. "Well, let's just say that you got some good exercise, we've got plenty of arrows to use, and you can take this chance of temporary blunt tipped arrow shortage to learn how to fletch arrows."

Percy's mouth dropped open. "Fletch arrows? Excuse me, but can't you just make arrows appear out of, like, mid-air?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Well, duh, but sometimes, when I'm on solo hunting missions, then you need to learn how to make arrows in case you run out, right?"

"I'm supposed to be your Guardian, which means I can't leave you alone, you know." Percy said.

Artemis gritted her teeth. She didn't need to be reminded of _that_. "Whatever. Now, the huntresses are getting hungry, and it's getting late so hurry up."

Percy struggled to his feet and did his special bow. "As you wish, my lady." Then he added, "Moon Beam" under his breath.

Artemis glared. "For saying that hated _nickname_ , you shall have to walk or fly yourself to the dining area." She knew she sounded like a little girl, but she couldn't help it. She snapped her fingers and she disappeared in a sheen of silver light.

Percy groaned. _Life is tough._ Percy thought. He stretched his wings out and shot into the air, still enjoying the feel of the air rushing past him. He spotted the hunters and Artemis already seated at the table, so he decided to drop instead of glide. Bad choice. Had he not pedaled so much, it would've been fine, but his legs were cramped and weak, so instead of landing with a impressive crash, he landed in a very undignified heap. "Ugh…" He grumbled as he detangled himself and stood up.

"Really Kelp for Brains? That's how you announce your presence? And boy, you smell like metal, you need to take a bath." Thalia said, grinning mischievously.

"Oh haha, very funny Thalia. Now, what do you guys want to eat tonight?" Percy sighed, noticing that Thalia and the rest still had wet hair and pink cheeks from the heat of the bath.

"First, Percy, sit down. That's your seat. The huntresses have agreed not to attack you or stab you with forks and knives." Thalia said, pointing to a spot exactly opposite of Artemis. Percy nodded as he sat down, careful not to get too close to the hunters on his left and right.

"Thank you. Now, what will it be?" He asked.

"Hmmmm, two chicken legs, a grilled chicken breast, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans and orange juice. For each of us." Thalia said with a flourish.

"For my lady also?" Percy asked.

"Yes, that's right, except I think I'd like your water instead of orange juice, Perseus." Artemis replied.

"Very well. Alright, sit back." Percy said. He raised his hands and clapped them once. Instantly, there was the rich smell of perfectly cooked chicken with the smooth smell of gravy. Orange juice appeared alongside them, with a clear cup of water in front of Artemis.

"Oh goody, this looks great." Thalia said eagerly before she and the rest of the hunters attacked their plates of food as if _they_ had done all the grueling work. Percy gave a slight sigh as he summoned a pork chop and began to rip it apart. Artemis looked around at everyone, a slight smile crossing her face as she ate her food at a leisurely pace.

After everyone finished, all the hunters leaned back with contented smiles. They didn't even have to do any hard work, other than training and having fun.

"So my lady, can I go to sleep now?" Percy asked wearily.

Artemis smiled. "Technically, no, even though you'll be half sleeping."

Percy frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you need to keep watch at night, because while you may be a slave of the hunt, you're also part Guardian, so you need to keep watch. The good thing is since you now have god level water and sea powers from your father, you should be able to put half of your mind to rest and the other half alert. Like dolphins." Artemis tossed Percy a drachma. "I don't know how to do it of course, but Poseidon will be able to tell you how."

Percy groaned. He had been hoping to be able to crash to bed, but noo, he had to sit in a tree and half sleep instead. He got up and bowed. "As you wish, my lady."

As the hunters walked off to their tents, Percy heated up a plate, sent a small stream of water onto it, which caused steam to rise in the air, then ignited a fireball to create a harsh enough light to make a rainbow. He tossed it in.

 _"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering and please show me Poseidon, wherever he is."_

The rainbow shimmered and soon pictures formed, along with lots of yelling.

 _"Look Athena, your plans are always great, I'll admit, but I'm getting back at that slimy git for Percy, and he's_ MY _son, so I'm going with my plan, not your plan! Any other time, and I'd go with your plan, but not this time!"_ Poseidon was yelling, face to face with Athena. They glared at each other for a few more seconds before Athena relented.

 _"Alright, fine, only this time Poseidon, next time, you follow_ MY _plans. Got that?"_ Athena said.

Poseidon nodded. _"Thank you."_

Percy swore that he saw both of them blush, and decided to speak up.

"Hey Dad."

Poseidon flinched. "Percy! Oh, um, you need any help? Anything troubling you?" He asked, pushing Athena out of the room.

"Oh, Artemis just said that I should be able to shut down half of my mind like a dolphin, while remaining alert. It's for Guardian duty. She told me to ask you how to do it."

"Oh, that's easy. Just think on which side you are most tired on, and go to "sleep", but only on that side. The other side will still see everything and will still be observant and alert. Just remember that to get absolute rest, you'll need to shut down your brain completely."

"Alright, thanks a lot dad, I gotta go." Percy said.

"You're welcome son."

Percy quickly swiped his hand through the mist, ending the call. _I wonder what he and Athena are doing? Especially since they seem to be working together on some sort of plan?_ Percy thought, but then decided to dismiss it. He had enough on his plate already.

He quietly flew up to a tree branch and leaned against the trunk. Concentrating, he decided to shut down the right side of his brain, since he seemed to have a headache there. To his surprise, it happened quickly. He could feel himself resting, and yet could also see everything. He smiled. Peace at last.

"And Perseus, remember to wake up at 6 tomorrow!" Artemis called out, completely shattering his peaceful bubble.

Percy groaned. _This is gonna be a awful_ …


	9. Chapter 9

**Percy**

"Hey Percy, how's it going? And you haven't stopped by to say 'Hi' at all." Thalia said, leaning against a tree, watching Percy struggling with all the laundry.

Percy scowled. "Oh, well, you know, besides washing _piles_ of clothes that reach more than _6 feet_ in height, conjuring and maintaining several _swimming pools,_ sharpen _10,000_ arrows, fletch unknown amount of arrows, conjure banquets out of mid-air, repair the training dummies, making dummies, fix targets, build _more_ targets, forge knives, daggers, arrow heads, keep them clean and perfect, run errands left and right, _and_ make _15 frickin cross country trips_ to move the camp from New York to California, and then _back_ again to New York, then the past two months have been great, absolutely _great!_ Couldn't have asked for anything better!" Percy replied sarcastically. He was in a bad mood, since he'd had almost no sleep for quite a while. No _full_ sleep, mostly just half sleeping on a tree, jerking awake whenever Artemis called him.

"And to answer your second question, I couldn't stop by to say 'Hi' because the huntresses will shoot me on sight the instant I get within 20 feet of you, and I was too busy being used for free-labour." Percy grumbled.

Thalia couldn't help it. She laughed. Percy glared at her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Oh gods, the same old, sarcastic Seaweed Brain I've known for so long." Thalia said smiling.

Percy's face softened. "Huh. Seaweed Brain? Haven't heard that name in a long time, Pinecone Face."

Thalia looked at him. "You call me that again, and I'll kick your butt so hard that you'll reach Olympus."

"Oh wonderful, you're becoming more and more like your half-sister. Now I have to deal with two of you guys." Percy said, swirling the clothes around.

Thalia smirked. "Half-sister? Heh, I haven't thought about that before. Don't worry, eventually you'll get used to doing all of this and it'll be natural for you."

"Oh yeah? Then please tell me why the pile of clothes I need to wash is growing every day, or why the pile of arrows I need to sharpen is getting bigger every day, or why the Huntresses need so many arrows?"

Thalia grinned. "Well, ok, fine, maybe I can ask the hunters to not take so many baths a day."

Percy glared at her. "Excuse me. _You_ seem to be the person who tosses me the most clothes!"

"That's not true!" Thalia said indignantly.

"Oh really? Please, after washing laundry for two months, I more or less know who wears what. Especially you. I've known you for a long time. I know your style of clothing. Phoebe, she wears red. Loves red like crazy. Red underclothes, red shirts, red everything. The trio, Christy, Alex and Elizabeth, those three huntresses from Elizabethan times, they love the colour blue. All the other hunters wear silver stuff. Now, _you,_ you wear black. You love black and dark colours. Dark blue, black, dark brown, dark green, all weird styles. And weird slogans. Seriously, 'Kiss my A$S?' I've seen them all. And the ratio I've seen from you is waaay higher than the others, Thals."

Thalia blushed. "Well, um, I just have more clothes…"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Right. Oh, and by the way, I didn't know a Hunter of Artemis was supposed to wear this type of jewelry." Percy said, reaching into his pocket and taking out a silver bracelet. Hanging from the bracelet were the letters that spelled out PERCY JACKSON. It had the look of a well-worn bracelet.

Thalia blushed furiously. "I was searching for that! And where did you find it!" She said, snatching it away and putting it on her wrist.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I found it in the pockets of your skinny jeans. And what the _crap_ is my name doing on your bracelet?"

Thalia continued blushing. "Well, you were one of the only males that I liked. And you were the only person beside that Annabeth who I could confide to."

Percy merely continued staring at her and raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh. And no Luke? No Jason?"

Thalia sighed. "Ok, fine, basically, you were more of a brother and a great friend than Jason or Luke could ever be. You were someone I could yell at, someone I could beat up, be rough with, and I'd know you would still be at my side. With Jason, I have to be "protective". With Luke, I had to be careful. To be honest, I thought he was a bit too sneaky. Which I suppose was true." Thalia sighed. "You see, I needed a family. Someone to _be_ with. That's why the Hunters are such a good family. We always stick together. Someone _reliable._ " She turned to Percy. "Go ahead. Laugh it up." She grumbled.

Percy gave a small chuckle. "That, Pinecone Face, is the definition of _family._ Does Artemis and the hunters know about that bracelet?"

Thalia blushed again. "Yes. She let me off after I explained everything." She gave Percy a sly look. "If you ask me, I'd say she has a _very_ soft spot inside her heart for a certain demigod who is currently doing laundry."

It was Percy's turn to turn red. "Oh really? Then please ask me why she seems to enjoy giving me more and more chores and plain, old torturing."

"Someone's blushing and fidgeting." Thalia said in a singsong voice, smirking.

Percy turned even redder and began doing laundry as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "Whatever you say Thals, that still doesn't explain why Artemis loves torturing me."

Thalia laughed. "Ok, fine, how about this, I'll go and ask Artemis to see if you she can let you off the hook and start training you. You'll still have to do some work, but I'll try to convince Artemis to go easier on you. And who knows, it's possible that Artemis and the Huntresses will like you. Especially the former." Thalia smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Percy blushed again. "Oh really? Then please explain why all the arrows were aimed at me when their targets were all the way on the other side of the field."

"Well, about that… we decided to make small jokes. And anyways, you're like a source of entertainment. We don't really have TVs or computers here. And you're way better than cable."

"Oh hooray, that's just what I wanted, to be some source of entertainment…" Percy grumbled.

Thalia smiled. "Well, I better get going on trying to convince Artemis. Oh, and to be honest, you're really hot, Annabeth doesn't know what she missed."

Percy smiled. Hearing Annabeth's name didn't hurt him anymore, he supposed that Annabeth had broken his heart so bad, he had gotten over her without much trouble. _And all this work helps too._ Percy thought. It was nice to know he still had good friends around. "Thanks for the compliment. Now, I have a _lot_ of work to do, so the earlier you can convince Artemis, the better. Because if you don't, I swear I'll die from stress than from battles."

Thalia smirked. "See? You _are_ protecting Artemis, by doing the work for her." Thalia said before disappearing into the forest.

Percy looked at the huge pile of clothes he still needed to wash. _I'm beginning to believe that…_ Percy thought glumly. At least now he knew how to swirl the clothes around without getting them knotted together. He sighed. He actually didn't mind washing the clothes too much, he just hated hanging the clothes up, it was so annoying.

Several hours later, Percy slowly stretched his back and his wings, no longer wincing at the many cracks he heard. He was, after all, quite used to them, as he should be after laboring endlessly for two months. After drying them, Artemis had wanted him to fold the clothes into neat little piles, her excuse being that if it rained, it'd ruin his work. What she didn't mention was it was near the end of March, it'd more likely rain, and she had protective barriers around the camp. _More like an excuse for me to do more…_ Percy thought. Still, folding clothes wasn't too bad, just constantly reaching up to fold them was annoying. And folding female undergarments was still embarrassing. It was also time consuming. He quickly folded all of them, before putting them in a bag to bring to the "clothes tent".

He stretched his wings and shot into the air, keeping an eye out for monsters while scanning the ground at the same time, landing with a barely perceptible rustle. At least the 15 cross country trips had taught him how to land quietly on the ground with heavy objects, instead of crashing to the ground and announcing your presence. It had also greatly improved his aerial skills, since he could pull off all sorts of tricks in the air now. And it had improved his speed and muscles enormously. Even though his shoulder blades ached for days after moving the entire camp, Percy was pretty confident he could break the soun barrier without trying too hard. He walked to the tent and gently put the bag of clothes inside it, he knew that before the day was gone, that bag of clothes would be gone. He looked around and saw Artemis leaning underneath a tree, gazing off into the distance. Percy stared at her before wrenching his gaze from her. He really had to control that, since he found himself staring at Artemis more and more often.

He walked up to her, ready to "ask" her for more instructions, but before he got within 10 of her, he was suddenly wrenched upside down, dangling in mid-air, his ankles wrapped tight in a thick rope.

"What the…" Percy muttered before he heard peals of laughter. As he slowly spun in a circle, he saw hunters coming out from all over the place, with Thalia biting her lip hard, trying not to laugh. Percy heard a beautiful and taunting laugh, and he could only guess that it came from Artemis, since only her laugh held that type of sparkle in them.

"My, my, someone sure isn't used to the outdoors eh? Even the simplest and dumbest animal could've seen that trap, and yet you completely fell for it." Artemis chuckled.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "I'm from New York, I'm city born and bred, this nature lifestyle isn't something I'm used to so this caught me off guard. Put me in the city, and I bet I can follow you without knowing, I know all the tricks that people use in alleyways, and where people are most likely to ambush you."

"Well then, if that's the case, I don't think you should be our slave anymore." The huntresses instantly started whining. Artemis held her hand up and they fell silent. "You'll still have to make the bathes and our meals, since your meals are, admittedly, too good to pass. But you'll split your other chores evenly with all the huntresses. You will use that extra time I have given you to learn some wilderness training and archery. With me." She said, smirking at Percy's horrified expression.

"A-Archery?" He stuttered.

"Yup. I think that's going to be quite a bit of fun, especially added with your wilderness training." Artemis said with a glint in her eyes that made Percy shiver.

"Great. Just great. Always wanted to be the Hunt's punching bag." Percy grumbled.

"Oh don't worry _Perseus_ , _I_ won't do anything to your pretty face." She said, grinning.

"Alright, fine, now can you please let me down, _Moon Beam?_ " Percy asked, smirking at her reaction. That smirk promptly disappeared when Artemis's eyes flashed and she put her foot against his chest and pushed. He went flying in the air, only to come to a abrupt stop and began swinging back and forth like a pendulum. The hunters shrieked with laughter, and even Artemis had a smile on her face though she quickly wiped it off so she could be "serious" with Perseus. She walked over and stopped Perseus from swinging back and forth to talk to him.

"Now Perseus, how many times do I have to tell you to _not_ call me 'Moon Beam'? And second, I am _definitely_ not letting you down after you call me 'Moon Beam'! I'm only letting you down once you swear on the Styx to not call me that stupid name!" Artemis yelled in his face.

Percy smirked again. "I'll stop calling you Moon Beam when you stop calling me Perseus. And I can easily free myself without your help."

"Oh yeah? How are you supposed to do that when you're hanging upside down?" Artemis asked skeptically.

"Oh please my lady, I didn't defeat all those monsters by being a weakling." Percy said. In a nice show of abdominal strength, he easily did a 180 "sit up" and stayed in that position without shaking, untying the knot. He landed gracefully on his feet when he untied it, calmly brushing his elbows off.

"Besides my lady, you know you like that nickname." Percy said slyly, giving her a heart-stopping grin.

Artemis froze. She glared at him, a mix of emotions inside her. She was angry at him for calling her 'Moon Beam', disgruntled that he managed to free himself so easily, and hating the effect his smile had on her. "I-I…What do you mean I like that nickname? I _hate_ it!" Artemis yelled at him, yet at the same time staring at his wonderful smile.

Percy smirked. "Someone's stuttering." Seeing her angry eyes flare, he decided to drop it and save it for later. "Anyways, what would you like me to do now then, my lady?" he asked.

Artemis ground her teeth together. "Go and do a patrol of the sky and keep an eye out for _anything._ And take your time in doing it." She said, still infuriated by the fact that Percy was able to throw her off with a simple smile. _But it wasn't a simple smile, it was a_ special _smile._ _A really_ nice _smile._ A voice inside her head said. She angrily pushed it out of her mind, giving Percy her best glare.

Percy did his special bow. "As you wish, my lady." He turned to Thalia, who was still chuckling. "And Thals, we'll see who's laughing after I tell you what Jason most likely did a couple months ago. Talk to you after my patrol." He said, smirking as he extended his wings and shot into the air. Thalia looked confused. Artemis just glared at the disappearing speck that was Percy.

"Alright girls, go back to what you were doing before." She said grumpily.

They quickly bowed and left. Artemis sighed and flopped down in front of a tree, leaning against it. Truth was, she actually _liked_ being called 'Moon Beam'. It made her feel special and cared for, kind of like how Percy called Thalia 'Pinecone Face' and 'Thals'. Not that she'd ever say that in front of Percy's face of course. Artemis sighed again and put her chin on her head. Percy had truly impressed her with his obedience and loyalty by listening and obeying her every command. She knew that he complained a bit to Thalia, but he always did the job, always finished it before reporting back to her. Artemis grimaced. She could almost _feel_ herself being pulled towards Percy, and that was _not_ what she wanted. Deep down, she knew she harbored strong feelings for him but she did her best to squash them. She _had_ to distance herself, but she had effectively trapped herself by agreeing to teach archery and the wilderness skills for Percy. Maybe something that would cause him to chicken out of the training.

Artemis continued to think, and then it hit her. The wolves! Artemis smiled evilly. Percy had seen the wolves but had never fed them before. Besides, she could also just say that to hunt, Percy had to acquaint himself with the wolves. She smiled again. _This'll be fun. When he gets back, I'm going to take him straight to the wolves._ Artemis thought. Now _that_ was a good plan. She leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes, relaxed at last.

Percy calmly circled the perimeters of the Hunter's camp, sweeping his eyes over the surrounding areas with a eagle like vision. He _loved_ the feel of his wings now, they felt powerful and smooth, and he itched to see if he could break the sound barrier. He glanced down and instantly spotted Artemis. She was leaning against a tree, eyes closed. Perhaps he could take a minute and try it. Barely had he thought that before he shot off into the air, pumping his wings as hard as he could. He felt the air around him thicken as he sped up. He gave a growl and pushed, he knew he was close. The air thickened even more as the wind whistled past his ears, and he silently thought whether Zeus was slowing him down on purpose. That made him angry, and with the anger came a burst of energy. He pushed his muscles to their limit, even though they were screaming in protest. He heard a dull boom around him and watched as a white cloud dissipated around him. _Yes! Yes! I've broken the sound barrier! Haha!_ Percy thought triumphantly before slowing himself down drastically. As he slowed down, he realized just how much his muscles hurt. He cursed. This was going to make his training much harder. He slowly turned around and began flying back to camp, but as he flew, he noticed that many mortals were staring at the sky, screaming as they pointed at him. _Oh crap, what do they think I am?_ Percy thought desperately, the last thing he wanted was the US Air Force to send in a couple fighter jets after him. He _really_ should have thought about that before trying for the sound barrier.

A small chuckle filled his head. _"They think you are a very scary UFO, my champion. Which you are, in a sense."_

Percy was so surprised he almost stopped flying. _"Lady Hestia?"_

A small image formed in his head, showing a smiling 8 year old girl sitting in a fire. _"Of course. Who else? Now, I had originally thought I wouldn't need to tell you this, since you had been granted wings by Chaos, but it turns out you_ do _need this after all."_ Hestia said in his mind.

 _"Um, what is the thing you're talking about?"_ Percy asked.

 _"Percy, you know what my animal is, correct?"_ She asked.

 _"Er, yeah, it's a crane and a donkey, right?"_ Percy replied, hoping he hadn't gotten it wrong.

 _"Correct. Now, since you're my champion, I'm able to grant you this ability. Percy Jackson, would you like the ability to turn into a crane, so as to help disguise yourself?"_ Hesta asked in a formal tone.

 _"That would be awesome, and thank you my patron."_ Percy said, mentally bowing.

Hestia nodded. She waved her hand and her image glowed with a fiery heat, filling his body with warmth. Then it disappeared. She smiled. _"Now, while you seem to appear as a eagle to the mortals, I suggest that you turn into a crane and fly lower. Over time, you will be able to transform without a second thought. So I also suggest you practice the form. Who knows, perhaps you can even have fun with Artemis and the hunters."_ Hestia said with a sly smile before disappearing from his mind.

Percy decided to try it out. He found, to his surprise, that there were a _lot_ of crane's to pick from. Crane's with weird feather styles, the common crane, the blue crane… _Hey! Blue! Sweet!_ Percy thought excitedly. He closed his eyes, concentrating and imagining himself as a blue crane. He felt his body morphing, shrinking. He opened his eyes and found himself looking at a really long, pink bill. He looked down and found his body to be an exact replica of a blue crane. _Well, not completely blue. And I'm definitely not a fan of the pink bill, but damn, this is sooo cool._ Percy thought. He realized that he was over the hunter's camp and decided to descend as quietly as he could, landing in front of Artemis, who seemed to be napping. _Hehe, this is going to be fun._ Percy thought.

He calmly stood in front of Artemis, noticing just how much bigger she was than he in his crane guise. _I wonder if this is how Artemis and the hunters feel when they talk to me._ Percy thought. He was getting bored. He gave a short squawk in an attempt to wake her up. No response. He was about to squawk again when he heard the huntresses coming.

"Hey, look, a crane! I wonder what it's doing here?" Thalia wondered aloud.

Artemis woke up to her huntresses sound. "What? A crane? And where's Perseus?" She asked. Then she noticed Percy the Crane standing in front of her. She frowned when she saw him.

"A blue crane. I wonder what one is doing here? It's supposed to be in South Africa." Artemis said, her eyes calculating.

Percy stared back at her, unflinching, which turned out to be a big mistake. Artemis's eyes narrowed. "Apollo!" She growled before leaping at him with incredible speed and grace. Percy's eyes widened and barely managed to dodge and roll aside as Artemis landed right where he was a nanosecond after he got out of the way.

"Right, that proves it, no bird has that type of reactions. Get out of that form before I get angry, Apollo." Artemis said, her silver eyes flashing.

 _Uh oh. This is turning out to be a bad idea…_ Percy thought as he kept a careful eye on Artemis's leg muscles, the better to determine when she was going to leap and where. He saw them tense and instinctively leapt aside at the same moment Artemis sprang at him. He clacked his bill in amusement. This was turning out to be pretty fun. Artemis was literally steaming as she leapt after him, each one faster and quicker than the last, but Percy evaded each one easily.

"Fine, if you want to play…" Artemis said in a ominous voice. She leapt at him, and again Percy leapt aside, but _this_ time, Artemis transformed into a huge grizzly bear in midair, greatly extending her reach. Percy's eyes widened as she crashed on top of him, his poor crane body getting crushed by the huge bear's weight. Artemis gave a massive swipe of her huge paws and sent Percy flying into a tree. She transformed back into her normal form before walking over and picking up the bird by its neck.

"Now, are you going to transform back into your old stupid form or shall I make you, stupid brother." Artemis said, looking straight into the crane's eyes. And gasped. "Perseus?" She asked incredulously, dropping the bird.

Percy transformed into his original form as he fell, landing as the big guardian at Artemis's feet. He slowly staggered to his feet, the blow that sent him crashing into a tree hurt a lot. Artemis and the Hunter's stared at him in shock.

"What gave it away?" Percy asked, rolling his shoulders blades to ease the tension in them.

Artemis walked up to him and smacked him across the face. "Don't do that again! Do you know what would've happened if I hadn't seen your eyes? You would've been dead, because only a god would have been able to survive what I was going to do!" Artemis said in a anxious voice.

Percy looked at her, surprised. "Well now, that's a nice change isn't it? I never knew you cared." Percy said teasingly.

Artemis blushed but changed the subject. "Whenever could you change your form? I never knew that!"

"Yeah, I'd like to know too Seaweed Brain." Thalia added.

"Well, it's thanks to my patron Hestia again. I was flying around and needed a better disguise, since the mortals thought I was a big scary UFO. Hestia gave me the ability to transform into a crane so I could blend in a bit better." Percy said.

"You need to pick your crane better then. Blue cranes are usually found in South Africa. Not in New York, and especially not in winter." Artemis said, still shaken from the fact that Percy had been a crane and she had nearly killed it.

"As you wish, my lady. I shall choose the common crane next time." Percy said, giving her his special bow.

"Good. Now, go make a bath for the huntresses and follow me. Your wilderness training is beginning _now."_ Artemis said, smiling slightly.

Percy turned to the huntresses. "Fine. But you girls are washing your own clothes now."

The hunters nodded dejectedly. Percy gave a grin and summoned water from within himself and shaped it into a super-sized spa bath. He quickly heated it up and stood next to Artemis.

"Done, my lady." Percy said.

"Good. Now, follow me." Artemis commanded.

Percy obediently followed Artemis. "Where are we going?" Percy asked.

"Well, you've met the falcons; you got along pretty well with them. Now, if you want to hunt properly, you need to know how to feed the wolves." Artemis replied, taking especial pleasure at the look of horror crossing Percy's face.

"W-Wolves?" He stuttered.

Artemis smirked. "I'm sure you'll get along just fine with them." Artemis said. She distinctly heard him mutter under his breath, "Yeah, as in getting eaten type of "getting along well…." Artemis couldn't help but smirk again. They stopped in front of a small tent.

"Here? Here is where you keep the wolves?" Percy asked incredulously, wondering how such a small tent could fit all the wolves.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "This tent is magic. Much bigger on the inside than the outside. And also, we only kept them in here because we didn't want to scare you. Once you get acquainted with them, they'll roam around our camp freely."

Percy looked nervous. "Ok. Then let's get this over with, cause I have a feeling this is going to end badly." Percy said.

Artemis rolled her eyes again. "You are such a pessimist." She remarked. She opened the door, pulling a reluctant Percy in.

"Um, aren't we supposed to have something to give the wolves to eat?" Percy asked.

"Yes, but since you're here, you can just summon some chicken, can't you?" Artemis asked.

"They eat cooked meat?" Percy asked, amazed.

"Duh. Of course. They eat raw or cooked. Usually raw, since cooking meat for them is like a waste of time, they eat both types up too quickly." Artemis said. "Now come _on._ There's only 8 of them." Artemis grabbed Percy's arm and pulled him towards the wolves. She fully expected the wolves to come out snarling. Instead, she found them all asleep. They were lying on the ground, on tree trunks, all over the place, snoring.

 _This is_ not _what I planned…_ Artemis thought. She had planned that they would come out snarling and scaring the crap out of Percy, but instead, she found them napping. Percy, meanwhile, looked surprised.

"Wow. They don't look bad, in fact, they look adorable." Percy said, walking straight toward the wolves. However, the instant he got within petting distance, all the wolves instantly woke up, their noses sniffing the air. Percy froze. Then a low growl came from the middle of the pack as a large white she-wolf trotted forward, sniffing Percy.

"Um, Artemis, did I do something wrong?" He asked tentatively.

"Perseus, just stay still and if you're lucky, they won't attack you. Just be on guard. And be very careful, that wolf is named Tempest for a reason." Artemis said carefully. Not even _she_ knew what was happening.

"Tempest? I thought that's the name of Jason's pet _venti?"_ Percy asked.

Tempest continued sniffing Percy, slowly circling him while Percy just stood stock still. Suddenly, Tempest sat in front of Percy, her tongue out, panting. It looked as if she were asking for something. As soon as she did it, all the other wolves also began sat around Percy, panting.

"Um, what the Hades?" Percy asked.

Artemis frowned. "Unless I'm mistaken, I think they smell the ability you have from Hestia. You're ability to summon food. Try it." Artemis said.

Percy looked doubtful but he listened. He summoned a huge chunk of ham, and barely had he summoned it when Tempest snapped it out of his hand, swallowing it whole. Percy's eyes widened as Tempest gave a low growl of pleasure, licked her chops and sat back down in front of him, staring. Percy looked at all the other wolves, and shrugged. He clapped his hands, and eight huge cooked turkeys appeared out of nowhere in front of each wolf. The wolves instantly attacked the turkeys, with the exception of Tempest, who nudged the turkey to Percy's feet, curled herself around Percy's feet and began to tear apart the turkey at a leisurely pace.

"My lady, how am I supposed to move?" Percy asked, glancing down at Tempest, who was still curled tightly around Percy's feet.

Artemis stifled a laugh. "I suppose you're stuck there until she decides to move, Perseus."

"Can't you tell Tempest to move, Moon Beam? Cause I don't think I can stay here forever." Percy said.

Artemis gave Percy a glare. "I'm definitely not asking Tempest to move, unless you stop calling me that nickname." She said, thinking this would be a excellent time to get rid of a name that reminded her of Percy. Unfortunately, Tempest seemed to have understood Percy's question, since she unwound herself from Percy's feet and licked Percy's hand before going back to eating her turkey. Percy smirked at Artemis as he walked over to her.

"You know, I think I like Tempest and the other wolves a lot." Percy said. Tempest perked her ears up when she heard and almost seemed to smile a bit.

Artemis glared at him. She was getting pissed at her so far failed attempts to distance herself from Perseus.

"Well, that's good. Now, say your goodbyes and meet me at the archery range." Artemis said grumpily, storming out of the tent. Percy stared after her, confused.

"I swear, I will _never_ understand women…" Percy muttered. He walked over and bent down, patting Tempest on the head before leaving. He reluctantly made his way into the archery range, knowing that it would end badly. He arrived and saw Artemis shooting streams of arrows at the targets, far faster than any machine gun. She stopped when she saw him.

"Alright boy, from what I've heard, you're a pretty bad archer, so you better get started." Artemis commanded.

"Excuse me? Pretty bad archer? I'm the worst archer the world has ever seen!" Percy said.

"Oh come on, you can't be _that_ bad, you've got my brother's blessing after all." Artemis said.

"Yeah? Watch this then." Percy said. He picked up a bow and notched an arrow, aiming at the targets. He winced at how bad his shoulder muscles felt. _Serve me right for breaking the sound barrier…_ Percy thought glumly. Then he let loose. As expected, the arrow flew way off, shooting somewhere into the distance, missing the target by a good half foot. Percy turned around to face Artemis, who was looking dumbfounded, probably because she couldn't believe someone was that bad.

"See? I told you I suck at archer-" There was a zipping sound and a huge amount of pain exploded in his left butt cheek. "OW! Ow-ow-ow!" Percy yelped, clutching his bottom in serious pain.

"Y-you must've shot it n-near o-one of the huntresses." Artemis stammered because she was trying hard to maintain her composure but was on the verge of rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter.

"Agh! Get it out! Why are they so freakin evil?" Percy yelled.

Artemis glowered at Percy. "It's called self-defense! Don't you dare call my huntresses evil, it's your own gender that's at wrong!" She yelled right back.

Percy pulled the offending arrow out of his butt and gave another yelp of pain. _Thanks gods it's not too deep, or it'll leave a nasty mark._ Percy thought.

"Just stop with the stupid prejudice! You can't judge a whole race by the actions of a few. Ok, admittedly, a lot, but there are some exceptions! And yet I wondered why you're single." Percy said without thinking. _Oh shit…_ Percy slowly turned to meet Artemis's eyes, which were flashing with anger, all traces of humour wiped out.

"I'm single because I chose to be! Your kind can't be trusted, and I _did_ make an exception by accepting you! I only made an exception because you're a _real_ man, a man's man!" Artemis paused, realizing what she just said. She flushed slightly, "First few seconds of practice and you injure yourself. Go patch yourself up at the infirmary." Artemis snapped.

Percy half walked and half limped his way to the tent that contained the supplies of nectar and ambrosia, even though he had a packet and a whole flask hanging on his belt. He had decided to take this time to think about what Artemis had just said. Had she just straight up complimented him? What did she mean by a "man's man"? Should he apologize? Had he hurt Artemis's feelings? If she even had any? _Don't be an ass, of course she has feelings, she just hides them well._ He pondered about this as he took a sip of nectar. Unfortunately for him, he was still part demigod, so he couldn't drink too much. Nor could he eat too much ambrosia. _If I had known what would happen earlier, I would have taken godhood…_ Percy thought. _Ah well, might as well get back, or she'll shoot me full of arrows._ As he walked back, he decided not to apologize and just stay quiet about it, since he didn't want another arrow in another sensitive spot. Especially his jewels. As it turned out, his jewels _did_ get hit by a arrow.

Artemis heard him stomping through the bushes and grass far earlier than she could even begin to see her. _I guess I'll have to train him on how to be quiet…_ Artemis thought. She was also thinking on how she had just complimented Perseus. True, she had called him a man after he took the sky for her, but never a _real_ man. Or a man's man. It made a huge difference. For some reason, he just got to her. Somehow. So much different than any other male she had ever met. Artemis shook the thoughts away as Percy emerged, looking at her warily.

"Do I still have to do this? I can't feel my left butt cheek." Percy said timidly.

Artemis stifled a laugh. Not laughing at his stupidity and clumsiness was almost impossible.

"Don't be a chicken, I won't turn you into a animal. Now, I'm going to show you how to _properly_ hold a bow and arrow, and _then_ I'll start teaching you how to shoot. Stand like this." Artemis said, smoothly sliding into a completely natural and perfect stance. Percy raised an eyebrow and tried to copy it. It all went pretty well until he drew his arrow back, in which he accidentally let it go. It went flying off into the distance again.

"Uh oh…" Percy said. Instantly, he extended one of his wings and wrapped it around himself like a shield. He stood like that for maybe about a minute and then retracted his wings.

"Ok, maybe the huntresses moved somewhere else." Percy said, giving a sigh of relief. Hardly had the words left his mouth when a red rubber ball-tipped arrow shot past the target, hitting Percy square on the nuts. He gave a choked scream as he fell forward, collapsing to his knees, a look of pain crossing his face. Artemis couldn't help it. She too fell to the ground, but she was shrieking with laughter, unable to stop. Percy gasped as he struggled to get up, it felt as if someone had nailed his balls to a two by four and smashed it with a sledgehammer. Percy slowly got up and noticed Artemis still laughing uncontrollably on the ground. The smile she had on lit her face up brighter than a full moon and made her look absolutely beautiful. Percy allowed himself two more seconds of staring at her before bending down to help her up. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey Moon Beam, is this how're you're supposed to teach me archery?" Percy asked.

Artemis stopped laughing at his nickname for her and slapped him across the face. She got up, ignoring his outstretched hand.

"That's enough for today. I don't think you'll be able to withstand any more hits, so we'll do it tomorrow. Besides, the hunters are probably getting hungry, it's much later than usual. About 10 o'clock right now" Artemis said after taking a look at the sky, walking to the dining area.

"Huh. After what they did, I don't think I'm making dinner." Percy said, sounding like a child. Artemis noticed that instead of walking straight and tall like he usually did, he was hobbling and walking with bent knees. That made her smile.

"Of course you're making dinner." Artemis said.

"Yeah? Says who?" Percy asked.

"Says _me_ " Artemis said, slapping Percy's left butt cheek extra hard. Artemis instantly blushed when she realized what she had just done, and quickly snuck a look at Percy's face. Thankfully, Percy was too busy cringing at her slap, since it had connected with his arrow wound.

"My Lady, did you _have_ to hit me there?" Percy whined.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Of course. Now, are you going to make dinner?" She asked, giving him a look.

"Ok, ok, fine, of course I will." Percy said, anything to stop her from punching him again.

The huntresses were already seated at the table, waiting for the two. "Hello girls, how was your day?" Artemis asked cheerfully, keeping an eye on Percy's expression.

"Oh, it was _wonderful._ Just that _someone_ seemed to be trying to shoot us. Twice in fact." Phoebe said, smirking. The huntresses were snickering at Percy, who was wincing as he made his way to sit down. So occupied was he in carefully sitting down, he did not notice Elizabeth sneak _something_ underneath him right as he sat down. He did hear it though. The moment Percy sat down, an enormous farting sound escaped from his seat, causing him to shoot upwards like a rocket. The huntresses fell off of their benches, screaming with laughter. Percy gave a low growl and flicked the whoopee cushion off his bench.

"Very funny… Now, do you guys want to eat or not?" He asked grumpily. The hunters pulled themselves together as they ordered a simple steak with broccoli and sparkling apple cider as drinks.

"And you, my lady?" Percy asked.

"To be honest, I'm not hungry tonight. So a serving less to summon, Perseus." Artemis said.

Percy nodded and gave a weary clap of his hands causing the requested food to appear. As usual, the food was impeccable. As usual, the huntresses dug in. Percy had summoned two chicken legs and two slices of cheese pizza, tearing through them almost viciously then washing them down with several cups of water. When everyone had finished eating, Artemis looked around the table and asked a question.

"Alright. Who shot the arrow that hit Perseus in his sensitive spot?" Artemis asked.

"Um, me." Phoebe mumbled. Percy had a 'Why-am-I-not-surprised' look.

"Ok Phoebe, you'll take first watch. Percy will take the second. Then whoever else decides to take it after Percy." Artemis said.

"Awww, my lady, do I _have_ to?" Phoebe asked.

Artemis nodded, while Phoebe looked glum. Until Percy interrupted.

"It's alright. I'll take first watch. And as much as I want to sleep, I don't think I can go to sleep yet anyway." Percy said.

Artemis looked at Percy. "Are you sure, Perseus?"

Percy nodded. "Of course I'm sure Moon Beam." Percy said, giving her a quick grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Percy said, extending his wings and flying up to his post in the upper branches of a tree.

"You should be grateful that Percy is so nice." Artemis said, looking at her hunters. Thalia smiled but the rest of her huntresses looked down and quickly ran off to their tents. Thalia remained a little longer before following them. Artemis sighed as she got up. There she was, doing it again. Complimenting and defending Perseus even though all she wanted was to get away from him. Artemis decided to take a walk in the woods, since she guessed she wouldn't be able to sleep either.

As she walked, she pondered her feelings for Perseus. She had never experienced such feelings before, although she did experience them to a lesser scale with Orion. She frowned slightly as she thought of Orion. She had fallen in love with Orion, yes, but it had taken years. And would she have given up her oath for him? No. After she had unintentionally killed him, and gotten over the heartbreak a few days later, she realized that she had mainly fallen in love with Orion due to his superb hunting skills and archery. She had relished the fact that there was a man who could hunt and shoot as well as she could, where they both shared a common interest, where they could both find enjoyment. She had not loved him for his person, but for his abilities. She had been too blinded by this impression of him and she had let them take over. Orion, after all, had too many flaws that were still reminiscent of his male species that she did not see at the time, the worst was the fact that he had raped the poor maiden Merope, the daughter of the legendary king, Oenopion. Seriously, Oenopion welcomes Orion with a banquet and what happens? Orion gets drunk and rapes Merope. Then Oenopion rightfully stabs Orion in the eye as revenge, but instead, Orion gets healed and tries to get revenge on Oenopion. He had also been boastful, almost nearing to the point where he would insult her. And while he respected Artemis, he had looked down on her hunters, many times showing off his superior skills to them.

 _Men… and their stupid pride._ Artemis thought sourly. While she would never admit it to Apollo's face, she was actually glad that Apollo had tricked her into killing Orion. He had been nothing but a distraction. _Even though I wish that Apollo had killed Orion himself, instead of tricking me into killing him._ Artemis thought sadly. That had galled her the most, the fact that she had killed him personally. Her thoughts turned to Percy, who truly intrigued her to no end. Percy was _different._ He was truly different than _anyone_ she had ever met. And the speed which she had developed feelings for him scared her. _I have to distance myself, I have to-_

Artemis was shaken out of her thoughts by a rustle. She froze and listened, before taking in her surroundings. Artemis was shocked. She didn't recognize any part of this forest, which meant she had walked a long way. She turned upwards to the sky, and realized with a shock she had been walking for three hours! Artemis looked around and what she saw made her stare. It was a large monster camp, with _dracaene,_ Laistrygonian's, rogue Cyclopes, all sorts of monsters camping there.

 _How did they get so close to here?_ Artemis thought wonderingly before she felt a touch of metal on her neck. Unfortunately for her, in her sleep-walk like state of walking through the woods, she had not been careful to be quiet. Artemis cursed as two more monsters stepped from behind the trees.

"Hehehe, look, we got the goddess without even trying. We'll be able to fulfill our mistress's last wish! She'll be happy! And we'll be rewarded!" The monster spoke in a grating voice.

"Yeah! And then we can kill-" The second monster began but couldn't finish when a throwing knife sprouted from his head. Artemis heard a dull clunk as the sword at her neck fell to the ground, while the third monster was already a pile of dust. Artemis turned in surprise, to find a tall figure standing over her, three throwing knives gone from his left shoulder.

"Perseus-?" Artemis asked questioningly.

"Hurry. Go back to camp and protect the hunters, if they have a group here, then they will try to attack the camp from the front. Go!" Percy hissed quietly.

"What? No! I can't leave you here, too many monsters!" Artemis said.

"I'll hold them off, this is what I was sworn to do. I have to protect you and the hunters. Now GO!" Percy yelled the last word before leaping right into the monster's camp with a loud yell, drawing both of his swords in mid-air and causing a burst of fire as he landed. Artemis hesitated, then turned and sprinted towards her camp. No teleporting, since it required energy, and Fates knows she was weak enough after fighting the Typhon and the Giants.

Percy managed to take down an entire tent of Laistrygonian's before they responded. He went into full battle mode, slashing crazily, blocking and dodging attacks, sending balls of fire left and right, and causing mass destruction. He did the 360 when he felt the amount of monster pressing against him increase. Soon it became a standstill, with Percy standing in the center of a sea of monsters, while the monsters tried to take him down by shooting arrows or full on attacking him. Percy was quite surprised at his endurance doing the 360, it usually took quite a bit of energy. But now, perhaps thanks to Artemis's chores, he was doing it with relative ease, slicing through armour and monsters like a hot knife through butter. _Perhaps I will thank Artemis after this fight._ Percy thought dryly. However, Percy had to end this soon, since he was positive another group was attacking the hunter's camp. He summoned his water powers from within and created a full-fledged hurricane. Water and wind whirled around him, blowing monsters off their feet, drowning them in tons of water as lightning struck and thunder boomed. He continued the hurricane for 5 more minutes before stopping it. A Aethiopian drakon came at him with its mouth wide open. Percy tossed a fireball inside its mouth and leapt aside. The drakon's eyes widened as it automatically swallowed it down, and then Percy cause the fireball to explode. The drakon exploded too, leaving behind charred flesh and shell. Percy looked around, stretching out with his sense for any more monsters. He could feel none, but he felt something pulsing at the base of his head. Artemis and the camp was under attack. He had to hurry. He capped both Riptides and shot into the air without a second thought.

He saw the hunters and Artemis clashing with a massive sea of monsters. Artemis had set up a protective shield, but soon they would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of monsters. He drew both swords and called on his increased Son of Poseidon powers. He angled himself down in a ninety degrees, pointed his swords straight at the ground, and increased his speed ignoring his screaming muscles. A dull boom was heard as he broke the sound barrier again, and then he slammed into the ground at speeds excess of 800 mph. As he hit, he summoned his powers and released it in a explosive bang. A massive wave of force blew back all of the monsters within 30 feet in all directions, giving Artemis and her hunters a brief respite. He quickly walked over.

"Perseus! Protect the huntresses, I'll handle the two drakons and that group of monsters." Artemis said.

 _More drakons?_ Percy thought, then turned around, scanning the area. He saw two more drakons slithering closer, with a large mass of monsters surrounding the pair. He recognized them as more Aethiopian drakons. Not as bad as Lydian, but still bad.

"Are you sure, my lady? That's a huge group, I'm supposed to stick by your side at all times." Percy asked.

"Yes, I'm sure! And in case something happens and father gets angry, I _command_ you to stay here, protect my hunters and get those pesky rogue Cyclopes. I've got the drakons and those monsters, don't worry." Artemis said before rushing off.

Percy opened his mouth to say something but Thalia interrupted him.

"C'mon, get into battle. Hunters, get in a phalanx and-" Thalia stopped when Percy leapt forward, stretching his wings out to their widest extent just as a volley of arrows hit his wings. If he hadn't moved in time, all of the hunters would've been hit. Percy grunted when they hit. His wings were impenetrable, like what Chaos said, but the arrows still had force. Since he couldn't see the archers hidden in the trees, he raised his hands, summoned more water from within himself and created a 50 foot tall tidal wave. He threw it forward, smashing trees and causing a brief flash flood. The huntress took the chance to duck out from behind his wings and started shooting.

"Thalia! I'll go forward and draw their fire off you girls, pick off the ones that I can't see ok?" Percy yelled. Thalia and the rest of her hunters nodded. Percy leapt forward, spinning his swords, cutting off 4 Cyclopes heads in a single smooth stroke. He waded right in, letting his battle instincts take over, while his ADHD took care of dodging and analyzing his surroundings. He was aware of wave after wave of silvery arrows falling, cutting down hordes of monsters. Once Percy took care of the Cyclopes, he summoned a large fire tornado and set himself on fire. Its heat was so intense that monsters burned just getting close to it. It was easy work afterwards; the monsters were cringing and fleeing from Burning Percy, giving the hunters easy targets. Soon, they had wiped out all of the other monsters.

"Percy! Go and help Artemis, we're fine now!" Thalia yelled, bandaging a wound on her arm.

Percy nodded and sprinted off towards Artemis. He found her victorious over a drakon and a huge piles of dust, but she was currently having some trouble with the last remaining drakon and a group of basilisks that none of them had seen. Artemis was sending a stream of arrows at the drakon, so many were lodged in the drakon's armour that he looked like a porcupine. However, every time Artemis tried to shoot its eyes or mouth, the basilisks would come forward, spitting fire and poison, causing Artemis to duck or dodge. Percy leapt in and shot a ball of water at the basilisks, momentarily pushing them back.

"Artemis! Get the basilisks, I've got the drakon!" Percy yelled, distracting the drakon with a blast of fire.

Artemis nodded and shot a cloud of arrows at the basilisks, causing them to scatter. Percy ducked aside as the drakon brought its head down and jumped onto its back. Using the arrows stuck in its shell like handholds, Percy climbed upwards, using his wings to keep himself steady as the drakon bucked, trying to throw him off. Percy reached the drakon's eyes and, using only his knees to hold on tightly, raised both Riptides, set them on fire, and slammed them into the drakon's eyes. The drakon gave a last scream as the flaming Riptides burned and evaporated its brain. Percy jumped off and rolled as the drakon fell to the ground with a loud crash. Percy stood up and looked for Artemis. Artemis had destroyed most of the basilisks except for two. He saw a one basilisk leap at Artemis, who shot it point blank, but because it was so close, momentum allowed the basilisk's body to crash into her, knocking her down before the body could disintegrate. The instant she was down, the last basilisk leapt at her, mouth wide open, poison and flames dripping from its mouth. Percy acted without thinking.

He threw himself at Artemis and crashed into her at the same instance the basilisk struck. Percy gave a involuntary scream of pain as the basilisk bit deep into his left thigh, the fire didn't bother him, but the poison sure as _Hades_ did. Its poison felt as if someone had gotten a cup of River Styx water and poured it right onto that specific spot. Fighting through the pain with years of experience, Percy raised a shaking hand and chopped down at the basilisk's neck with Riptide, severing its head from its body. Seconds later, it burst into dust. Percy gave a curse as he limped to a kneeling position; he had to check on Artemis but couldn't do it if he was bleeding like a broken dam. He ripped off a part of his shirt and wrapped it tight around his "snake bite" to stop it from bleeding for now. He got to his feet and limped over to Artemis. He noticed that she was bleeding heavily from cuts across her arms and torso, though she didn't have a single scratch on her legs. _Her foot work must be pretty darn good_ Percy thought. He reached over and gently touched her shoulder.

"My Lady, are you alright?" Percy asked, a little nervously.

"I don't _need_ your help, boy! Just… just go away and LEAVE ME ALONE!" Artemis snapped at him as she struggled up and leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. Artemis was furious. She was furious that Percy had to protect her, furious that she _needed_ protecting. "My Lady, I-" Percy began but was cut off again.

"I'M NOT WEAK OR ANYTHING LIKE WHAT MY FATHER THINKS! I DON'T ALWAYS NEED YOU TO PROTECT ME! I… I CAN PROTECT MYSELF PERFECTLY WELL! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Artemis screamed at him. Artemis winced at how desperate she sounded as she continued to throw verbal barbs at him. But she knew it was true. She was falling for him, falling for this stupid son of Poseidon and she was desperate to distance herself, desperate for him to yell back at her, for him to get angry, for him to retort, for him to do _anything_ that would stop her from falling for him. But Percy did not respond to her ranting's and barbs, he merely looked her in the eye with deep loyalty in them and refusing to purposely anger her. Artemis stopped yelling at him and took a deep breath. She also noticed that her hunters were looking at her with a bit of shock and pity for Percy.

"My Lady, I'm sorry if I made you angry, but you're wounded, and I can help with the healing process-"

"You? Help with the healing? I can feed myself nectar and ambrosia perfectly well _boy,_ and if need be, I can ask my immature brother for help." Artemis said disparagingly, hoping that Percy would rise to the jab. To her disappointment, he didn't, he merely met her gaze steadily. Feeling angry, she commanded him "Now just _leave me alone._ " Artemis took a hesitant step and instantly felt dizzy from loss of blood. She forced herself forward but stumbled. Instantly, a pair of strong arms were wrapped around her, easily supporting her.

"Let me _go._ I can walk perfectly fine by myself." Artemis mumbled faintly.

"Could've fooled me." Percy whispered. Artemis gave a slight yelp as he bent down and lifted her up in a style similar to a bridal-style carry and limped to a bench, Percy ignoring his protesting thigh muscles.

"Get off me." Artemis mumbled even though she was unconsciously shifting herself to a more comfortable position in his arms, resting her head in the crook of his arms.

"Shush my lady. Now don't move." Percy said. Percy gently laid a hand on Artemis's cheek and tenderly pushed a strand of her hand from her face. He muttered a string of words that she barely heard:

 _"I, Perseus Jackson, as Guardian of the Hunt, forfeit my body to receive my Lady Artemis's wounds."_

There was a brief flash of light and suddenly, all of the cuts, gashes and pain that Artemis had and felt disappeared. Percy stiffened and turned his head to the side, blood pouring out of his mouth. Artemis and the hunters gasped.

"Percy! No! What did you do?" Artemis asked frantically. Then she realized that Percy was bleeding all over place, where he previously had only minor scratches. Her eyes widened. "Perseus, you _idiot,_ you'll die from blood loss if you don't hurry-" She stopped as Percy calmly put a finger to her lips, quieting her. Surprisingly, she obeyed.

"You're mostly healed, my lady, but you haven't recovered your lost blood. I just took away your pain and cuts. You still need to recover your energy." Percy said quietly.

"I can do it myself, Percy, you need to-"Again Percy quieted her, and again, she listened. He carefully took his arm from beneath her head, and gently lay her head on the bench, wincing at the sight of his now-bleeding arm.

"You're going to have to clean yourself up before you go to sleep, my lady." He said, smiling slightly.

"Percy, what are you doing?" Artemis asked, ignoring his comment. He in turn ignored what she said and summoned a spoon and a bowl of soup which he promptly dumped on the ground. He rinsed it with a blast of water and dried it with a spurt of flame. He reached to his belt and took out a flask of nectar and a packet of ambrosia. He carefully poured the nectar in and crumbled the packet of ambrosia, mixing the two together. Then, holding the bowl in his right hand, he gently lifted Artemis's head up and looped his arm around her head. He dipped the spoon into the bowl and got out a spoonful of nectar-ambrosia hybrid. He put it in front of her lips with a inviting look. Artemis looked at him.

"No Perseus, you need it more than I-"

"My Lady, I'm still technically a demigod, I can't eat this combination. Now, please drink it." Percy said, moving the spoon a little closer. Against her will, Artemis opened her mouth as Percy calmly spooned it in. She swallowed, relishing the taste and enjoying the revitalizing feel of it. She had to admit that the combination tasted great, and wondered why no one had thought of it earlier. Unconsciously, she shifted her head so that her head was resting on his strong and firm biceps, a small smile crossing her face since it felt like a very comfy pillow. Then she blushed as she realized what she just did and prayed to anyone that Percy and her huntresses hadn't seen it. Patiently, Percy continued spooning the mixture into Artemis's mouth, with Artemis obediently drinking it. When the bowl was finished, Artemis felt great, and rather hungry.

"Done my lady, you can go and clean yourself up and probably take a nap, since it's getting late. Or should I say, getting really early." Percy said, looking at her. Artemis really didn't want to leave his arms, since they were so comfortable.

"Um, Percy? Can I have something to eat?" Artemis asked shyly.

Percy couldn't help but smile, even though his thigh hurt terribly. "Hungry now? What would you like then?"

"New England clam chowder? Haven't had it in a long time." Artemis said pleadingly.

Even though clams were seafood and Percy said he wouldn't do seafood, there was no way Percy could resist those silver eyes. He gave a small sigh. "Very well my lady, as you wish."

Percy summoned a bowl of it and looked at her questioningly. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Artemis asked. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to feed you?" Percy said with slight surprise, even though he was actually quite happy he could hold on to Artemis for a bit longer.

"Of course. I'm injured, so I can't feed myself for now." Artemis said playfully.

Percy gave a slight shake of his head. Just a couple minutes ago, Artemis had been yelling at him. Now, here she was, begging to be fed. "As you wish, my lady." Percy said, unable to hold back a smile, spooning it out carefully. Artemis ate it gratefully and was almost sad when the bowl was finished.

"Anything else my lady?" Percy asked. As much as he liked having Artemis in his arms, he really needed to go jump into the lake, since he was beginning to feel his consciousness beginning to feel fuzzy.

Artemis looked into Percy's sea green orbs and was deeply touched at how obvious it was that Percy cared for her. She turned red as she stared, then decided that a sort of apology was needed.

"Percy, um, what I said back there… I-I didn't mean any of it…" Artemis mumbled softly. It was hard for her to admit that she was wrong.

Percy smiled at her. "It's alright my lady, you know that I will always protect you." Percy replied, equally soft.

"And Percy?"

"Yes?"

Artemis reached up and patted his cheek, blushing as she did so. "Thank you" she whispered, before leaping off of his lap and dashing back to her tent so fast that she left after images of herself.

Percy looked in the direction she left in and smiled just slightly. He turned to the huntresses who were still staring at him. He thought they'd be a little happy that they won but instead, they were glaring at him.

"Just because my lady has decided to go easier on you doesn't mean we will." Phoebe said in a rather threatening tone. "We'll let this time pass, but don't try to touch her like that again." With that, she turned and left. The rest of the huntresses gave Percy one last glare before leaving with Phoebe. Thalia stayed behind a little longer.

"Good job Seaweed Brain, and good luck." Thalia said before leaving.

Percy sighed as he stood up, swaying a little bit. _Great, now the hunters are angry at me… Just my luck._ He staggered towards the lake, his vision blurring and the pain in his leg growing to almost unbearable levels. He reached the lake, barely conscious. He ripped off his shirt and cut off his left leg pants, deciding not to look at how bad his wound was. _But it was worth it, to help and heal Artemis_ Percy thought, right before he lost consciousness and tumbled in the lake, sinking deep down.


	10. Chapter 10

**Artemis**

Artemis bolted into her tent, locking the door tightly with a Hermes proof lock and magic before flopping herself down onto bed in an attempt to sleep. Not that she needed it, in fact, she felt great, but she just needed to clear her mind out. Artemis lay there, feeling guilty and ashamed that she had yelled at Percy so harshly, and feeling that she did not deserve such kindness afterwards. Artemis tried to block the thoughts but in doing so, led her to think back to what she had been thinking about before the attack had started. Percy was truly a different person than any man _or_ woman she had met. He was very brave, had a healthy reservoir of courage available, was so kind, so humble, so true, so honest, and always cared about other people. Not to mention the fact that he was extraordinarily loyal and selfless. And his skill with blades seemed unmatched. She would have to ask him to teach her and her hunters how to fight. Artemis cursed. _Enough complimenting him, you should find his flaws so you can distance yourself!_ She scolded herself. Unfortunately for Artemis, all she could think of was that he was impulsive, terrible with a bow, even with her brother's blessing, and had no hunting skills at all. Oh, and he was man. _Yeah, that's a great list of flaws…_ Artemis thought grumpily. Especially the last one. Artemis was seriously beginning to doubt that what she thought of 'man' applied to Percy _at all_.

But what surprised Artemis the most was just how extreme he'd go to protect the ones he cared about. He didn't seem to care whether he died in the attempt or not. Artemis shuddered again at the image of her wounds disappearing from her body and reappearing on Percy's body. That was going extreme; she highly doubted _anyone_ else would have done something like that. Artemis sighed as she realized that deep down; she was falling for him heavily. It was only a matter of time before it came out into the open, but Artemis fully intended to not let it happen. She prided herself to be Artemis, Goddess of _Maidens_ , Fates dammit, and she made a silent promise to herself that she wouldn't fall for anyone, even one as good as Perseus. _He is only a distraction, like Orion. It will pass._ But the instant she thought that, she knew it was wrong. Percy was a far greater man than Orion could ever had been, even though Percy was the most powerful son of Poseidon to have ever live, he had not let it get to his head. Percy never openly boasted, and respected the female race. Artemis sighed. _I hope I can carry it out._ With that thought in her head, she fell into a shallow sleep filled with her thoughts running back and forth.

Artemis woke up what felt like 5 minutes later to someone knocking-no, _pounding-_ on her door. There was so much force going into it, she wondered if Poseidon himself was whacking the door with his trident.

"Mmmmmph. Who is it?" She called out drowsily.

The pounding instantly stopped. "My Lady? Are you alright in there?" A voice called back. It was Thalia. Figures, only she could pound a door with that much force.

"I'm coming." She said. Seconds later, she opened her door to find all of her hunters grouped in front of her. She stopped.

"What's the matter?" Artemis asked, confused.

"Oh, well, it's nothing much, just that, er, well, when was the last time you slept this late, my lady?" Thalia asked.

"Late?... I feel as if I barely slept at all…" Artemis faltered when she saw just how high the sun was in the sky. It was a well past noon. "Oh…"

Thalia nodded. "Pretty late. You almost slept twelve hours, my lady. Was something wrong? Or did anything happen?" Thalia asked smoothly.

If Artemis had been her normal self, she would've instantly picked up on the way how Thalia had asked the last sentence. As it was, she was still distracted from all the thinking she did last night and answered normally.

"No. I was merely tired and thinking about some things last night…" Artemis answered vaguely.

Thalia's gaze seemed to sharpen. "If you don't mind my asking, what things were you thinking about?"

"Nothing…" Artemis murmured. Then she frowned as she realized that everyone was still standing in front of her tent and she was still standing in front of her doorway, almost as if she were hiding something. She also realized that Percy was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Perseus? Isn't he supposed to be here?" Artemis asked as she walked forward, her hunters following her. Walking forward, she didn't notice many of her hunters taking a quick look inside her tent or see the relief on their faces.

Thalia jogged up next to her. "That's the thing. We can't seem to find him anywhere."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Really? I kind of doubt that, considering you and the others are all very skilled trackers. Especially Phoebe. I think it's because you girls also slept late and were too lazy to search for him, so you decided to wake me up. Am I right?" Artemis asked, smiling.

Thalia flushed. "Um… well, we _do_ know he isn't in his tent…" Thalia mumbled.

"And that's called "searching everywhere"". Artemis replied, still smiling.

Thalia opened her mouth and closed it, trying to form words. Artemis laughed. "It's alright, I don't blame you, last night _was_ a rough night after all. But tell me, where was he the last time you saw him?"

"We saw him sitting on the bench that he healed you on, my lady. Afterwards, well, none of us have the faintest idea where he went." Thalia replied.

They arrived at the bench where Percy had "healed" Artemis, and saw a line of dried out blood with splashes of golden ichor. The mass majority of the blood was now a brownish color, which indicated it was Percy's. As trail of it could be seen, winding off into the distance.

Artemis pointed at the trail. "Now, was that so hard to find?" Artemis asked Thalia and the rest of her hunters. They turned red and mumbled some incoherent words. Artemis quickly followed it with her hunters in tow, steadily growing more and more concerned as she noticed the trail of dried blood thickening. Thalia seemed to mirror her thoughts.

"My Lady, I don't mean any offense, but were you wounded this badly?" Thalia asked.

"No… Only some cuts on my upper body and arms." Artemis frowned. Then it hit her with the force of a sledgehammer. The basilisk! Percy had knocked her out of the way, and the scream she had heard had been from Percy when he had been bitten! She knew how poisonous a basilisk was, and she also knew the bite would have been serious.

"Oh _Hades…_ " Artemis swore under her breath as she quickened her pace. She silently cursed herself for not remembering that Percy had suffered a fatal wound, instead, she had merely thought that his scream was a scream of defiance. _Stupid me_ Artemis thought. _And he took care of me first…_

Everyone froze when they reached the lake. It looked as if someone had dumped several gallons of red food colouring into it. _Or blood._ Artemis thought grimly. She walked up to the edge of the lake and tried to peer through the red haze.

"My Lady, can you see him? Or shall I try shocking him with a lightning bolt?" Thalia asked, worry evident in her voice.

Artemis shook her head. "Too much water here, and the lake is too deep. It'd take Zeus's master bolt to blast the water strong enough for anyone to feel if they're at the bottom. But, I do have a better way…" Artemis replied. She summoned her bow and quiver and quickly picked out 3 arrows. The arrows would create big air pockets of air when they hit the bottom, easily disturbing anything in the lake and causing a nice blast. She notched the three arrows at once and fired. Barely a second after they disappeared into the water, the lake exploded as if someone had set off a bomb inside it. A huge cloud of water shot into the air, and essentially created a brief but heavy downpour. It more or less drenched everyone in pinkish water. But no Percy.

Artemis growled. She was just about to loose a couple dozen exploding arrows into the lake when a voice called out, stopping her.

"My Lady! _Here_ you are! Where have you and the huntresses been?" A voice called out.

Artemis turned around to find a slightly limping Percy in a navy blue shirt and jeans walking towards her, worry and relief clearly written on his face. Her first reaction was relief that he was relatively fine and he was alive. That quickly turned into raw fury. Artemis stomped towards Percy, screaming as she did so.

" _Are you kidding me?_ My hunters wake up and realize that you aren't in your tent, they wake me up so we can _"search"_ for you, then after getting down poured on by _your_ bloody-water, you show up perfectly fine and have the nerve to say _'Here you are?'"_ Artemis screamed at him. She slapped him across the face. "You _annoy me_ , Perseus Jackson!" With a yell of frustration, she kicked-punched him in the chest, resulting in Percy flying several meters backwards and landing with a loud thump.

"Ummmph." Was Percy's response as he struggled to his feet, wincing as he put weight on his left leg. "I'm sorry my lady, it's just that when I woke up, I saw how late it was and didn't want to be any later, in case you, um, turned me into an animal or something… Then I realized that the camp was empty until I used my sense and traced you back here." Percy replied, bowing his head.

"Huh. If you've been asleep in the lake for so long, then how come you're still limping? Don't you heal quickly in water?" Artemis asked. "And make us dry. It's getting cold."

"True my lady, but I got in there rather late so the poison seeped pretty deep into my body. But it's nothing, I'll completely heal in a couple days." Percy said. He clapped his hands, causing all the water molecules from her and the huntresses clothing to instantly evaporate, leaving her clothes wrinkly but dry.

"Yeah, well, if you hadn't been such a stubborn _boy_ , and listened to _me,_ then you could've healed yourself perfectly-"

"My Lady, please, don't take offense. I'm not blaming you. I made my own choices, and I will take the consequences of it. Besides,-"At this, Percy gave her a warm smile. "- For some, only something or some _one_ worth dying for makes life worth living, my lady." Percy finished softly. "Now, may I go and prepare a lunch? I don't doubt that you and your hunters are starving." Percy said.

Artemis nodded absently. "Whenever did you become so philosophical?" She called at him, but it was too late, Percy and her hunters had already run off. She walked back at a medium pace, thinking about Percy's words. She tried to dismiss them as words, meaningless and worthless, but unfortunately, Percy had backed them up with actions first. Artemis ground her teeth together in frustration. Percy was defying every law of what a man was supposed to be in her books: Stuck up, pompous, rude, patronizing, self-sense of superiority, cruel, unfaithful, the list could go on and on. To sum it up, all the bad stuff with no good stuff. She was yanked from her thoughts by the delicious smell that was reaching her nose. She turned her head towards the smell and was quite shocked by what she saw on the table. On it was a literal buffet, with almost anything she would've wanted to eat right there. Nothing fancy, but it looked and smelled great. Her hunters were already sitting there, plates filled, looking at her impatiently. She gave them a quick smile before picking up a plate and quickly picking from the vast selection of food on the table. Grilled meat, fried, deep fried, boiled, small desserts, vegetables, they were all on the table. She was quite surprised that Percy could summon so much until she turned to ask him. He was sitting there, a forced look of calmness on his face, sipping on his flask of nectar.

"Perseus, you alright?" Artemis asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. You should eat." Percy said a little too quickly. Artemis glared at him until Thalia reached up and tapped her arm.

"My Lady, Seaweed Brain isn't unconscious yet, so can we eat first?" Thalia asked.

"Fine. But Perseus, don't think I'll drop this." Artemis said. Percy merely nodded.

Barely had she taken a bite of food before her huntresses attacked their own food with a ferociousness that would've scared the wolves. Truth be told, she was probably stuffing her own face too, since she hadn't eaten much. She kept an eye on Perseus though, and noticed that while he seemed to be watching the hunters, she could tell by his eyes that he was deep in thought. His eyes told many things. A deep green when he was brooding, or feeling a strong emotion, a harsh and poisonous green when he was angry; flaming, boiling eyes when he was furious, pale green when he was shocked, sparkling green when he was laughing or was amused, and the normal, peaceful, beautiful green colour his eyes usually were. Artemis was amazed and pissed at the same time. She had never known _any_ Son of Poseidon to have such shocking eyes, and was quite angry that it was pulling her to him. They also strongly reminded her of Thalia's eyes, which also showed a wide range of emotions. _I'm beginning to believe that they were siblings from a previous life…_ Artemis thought.

Little did she know that Percy was also thinking about her, pondering whether her actions meant that she was warming up to him or whether she was as cold as ever. Percy found Artemis to be the most confusing women he had _ever_ met, one instant warm, and the next instant she could be so icy and cold, she'd make Khione look like a warm and cozy goddess. In all honesty however, Percy found her undeniably attractive in either form. When she was in her "warm" state, she was almost always embarrassed, which made her cheeks pink and her face twist into the cutest and most beautiful expression he had ever seen. When she was angry, her face was red and her stunningly silver eyes glowed with a deep intensity, which made you feel like you could fall into them for eternity.

 _Enough_ Percy slapped himself mentally. _You didn't agree to be Guardian of the Hunt to pick up a new girlfriend, you joined because you wanted something to do._ He quickly wrenched himself from his thoughts and concentrated on his surroundings. He looked around in surprise that his makeshift buffet was almost gone. Artemis and the hunters had eaten almost _everything,_ the only plate that still contained a bit was the plate of apples. They were slowly munching on them, clearly savoring the fact that they didn't need to cook.

Percy caught Artemis's eyes and raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I've seen _anyone_ eat food this fast."

Artemis shrugged." We were hungry, what'd you expect? And Perseus, just because you summoned a nice buffet doesn't mean there aren't any archery lessons."

Percy's shoulders slumped. "Fine, but can you at least make sure that the hunters aren't anywhere near the line of fire? You know, just in case I miss, because I don't want to be shot again…"

Artemis smirked. "Well now, Perseus, do you really think I'd do that? Of course I have to make sure my hunters are all over the place, force you to be careful, no?" Artemis's smirk deepened at the look of horror that crossed Percy's face and the delight that spread across the huntresses.

"Now, go make my girls a bath, they did get dunked in your bloody water after all. They'll do the laundry however." Artemis said. Her hunters looked at her with pouting faces. She ignored them.

Percy gave a weary nod and raised his hands, summoning gallons of water from within himself. After he had hardened it into the typical shape that the hunters liked, and was raising his hands to shoot flames, Thalia interrupted him.

"You know Percy, I've been thinking, since your dad gave you a godly boost in your powers, can't you just boil the water by thinking about it? And vice versa?" Thalia asked.

Percy frowned and lowered his hands. Then he looked at the water and raised an eyebrow. A second later, the water churned and bubbled, steam boiling from it. Then Percy frowned at the water, and it instantly froze solid, so cold that they could feel the cold radiating from it. Percy smiled and the water relaxed.

"Awesome! Thank you Thals, I never thought of that!" Percy said cheerfully, glancing at the water and causing it to steam a bit.

Thalia laughed. "You really are a Seaweed Brain, Perce. I'm a Daughter of Zeus and I can give you tips on your Son of Poseidon powers. Shame on you, Seaweed Brain."

Percy gave a snort. "Yeah, but at least I'm not afraid of the water or something. Unlike you, who's af-"

"Alright! Enough! Meet me at the archery range. We're going to need all the time in the universe to fix your horrible skills. And girls, keep an eye out for friendly fire." Artemis said jokingly before flashing herself off to the archery range.

As she appeared, she began thinking about ways to stop Percy from accidentally shooting her hunters. _Aha_. She waved her hands and levitated the targets so that they were stacked on top of each other and side-by-side. Three on top, three on the bottom, on top and side by side. _Right, if he can somehow miss these targets, I'll be damned._ Artemis thought. She heard several twigs snap loudly and then some cursing. Artemis turned around and found Percy covered in dirt, with lots of leaves in his hair.

"Having trouble just walking through the woods, Perseus? And how do you propose to stalk your prey _quietly?_ " Artemis asked tauntingly.

"What? No, just got into a bit of trouble with some traps… And for your second question, how come you never heard me last night when you were taking your walk, hmm, Moon Beam?" Percy replied smoothly, smirking at her expression.

"Shut up and get shooting. Then we'll see who's laughing." Artemis snapped.

Percy was instantly subdued. He cautiously took the bow that Artemis and looked at her hesitantly. It took all of Artemis's willpower to not laugh at his expression. His expression said that he'd rather face Gaea again than fire his bow. So she merely let a small smile across her face and nodded at him to continue.. The instant he swung his bow up and notched it, she knew where it'd go. _Everything_ was wrong. His foot placement, the way he held it, how he held his head, and the fact he was trying too hard. She decided to let him shoot first, since she was quite interested to know where'd it go with him shooting. She waved her hand.

"Try shooting for the bottom middle one. It's the easiest."

Percy nodded and released. It flew straight and true, smacking into a bulls-eye…. On the target _above_ his intended one. Artemis couldn't help it. She laughed while Percy face palmed himself. Finally, Artemis stopped laughing and walked over.

"Well. Congratulations on your first bulls-eye, Perseus." She said, smirking.

Percy gave a grumble. "Go on and tell me how to do it properly."

"Gladly"

She took the bow from him and instantly swung into a perfect before shooting off three arrows, the first one sinking into the bulls-eye, the second arrow split the first, and the third split the second.

"Now, it's impossible to shoot if you're holding an arrow with your thumb and the knuckle of your first finger. Since you're new, try a different finger configuration." Artemis said.

Percy groaned as he pulled it back, but unfortunately, when he swing the bow up, he let the bowstring go. It shot high into the air, traveling in a arc to land who-knows-where.

"Oh gods…" Percy said, staring at the sky as if Zeus himself was going to blast him. Instead, there was a deep rumbling and the earth shook. Seconds later, a huge herd of wild stags burst out of nowhere, charging straight at Percy. Artemis leapt aside nimbly while Percy gave a yelp and bolted at high speed.

"Percy! Get back here, I can tell them to sto-" Artemis stopped and sighed as Percy and the herd disappeared into the forest, shaking her head at just how much she'd have to teach Perseus. She heard giggling and laughs behind her and turned around to find all of her hunters assembled there, laughing.

"Girls, have you been giving Perseus a hard time?" Artemis asked.

"Lady Artemis, we aren't exactly fond of him, you know, so using him for some pranks and entertainment is how we make him useful. It was very funny to see him getting dumped in a pile of compost." Christy replied. Her two buddies, Elizabeth and Diana nodded. The other huntresses started laughing again. Artemis gave a chuckle but shook her head.

"Under other circumstances, I'd allow this and urge you girls to do worse, but Percy's different. He risked his life several times already to save me, and for Zoë also. Technically, we owe him one. And even though I'm not happy about him being my Guardian, I _do_ appreciate that he's actually trying instead of finding ways to chicken out like anyone else would." Artemis said.

The huntresses sighed, knowing that Artemis was right and that they really should give Percy a break, but they were obviously unhappy about it. Thalia had the most disappointed look on her face. Artemis caved in when she saw the looks on her hunters face.

"Ok, fine, maybe you guys can still play around with him, but at least try to be somewhat more considerate, alright?" The hunter's frowns and sad faces instantly turned into gleeful grins. They quickly turned and ran off together, already muttering amongst themselves what types of trick they would do on Perseus. Artemis gave a small smile as she calmly sat down on the ground, waiting for Percy to return. _Well, even if they make his life miserable, he'll learn some valuable new techniques out of this experience. And besides, perhaps this'll help me distance myself from Perseus._ Artemis thought contentedly.

 **Percy**

Percy ran. He ran like never before, quite aware that no matter how fast he ran, the stags were always right behind him, their hooves pounding against the forest floor. _Forest._ Percy was beginning to hate this forest, it was filled with animals and the trees grew so close together, he had absolutely no space to spread his wings and fly. The hunters had not helped. Every time he had an opening, he found that the place was covered in a 10 foot high wall with spikes and nasty looking plants. _I wish I could run as fast as Artemis…_ Percy thought, his legs burning. Especially his left leg. _Hey, wait, what did Poseidon tell me? Liquid form was faster than running!_ Percy instantly turned himself into a puddle of water and launched himself forward. He sped across the forest floor at high speed, a streak of black liquid going so fast that soon, the stags were left behind. Percy stopped and listened. Nothing. _Phew. And damn, that was some fast travel!_ Percy thought. He transformed back into his normal form but collapsed instantly. Traveling in water form had been much faster, but it had used muscles Percy barely used. Percy cursed and painfully changed shape again into a puddle of water. _I'm going to have to practice those muscles… more._

 _Damn stags. Who knew they could be that aggressive?_ Percy peeked through the thick canopy of trees and found, to his surprise, that he had spent an hour running away from the stags. Thinking that his legs had rested enough, he changed back into his flesh form and gingerly took a step. Other than the fact that his legs were dead tired and his left thigh burned a bit, he was fine. Then he realized he was completely lost. He looked around before mentally smacking himself. Of course, just use your sense and locate Artemis. Wherever she is, that's where camp is. He began walking back, following his internal sensor, swatting away bugs and swiping at low hanging tree branches. Walking was much slower than running. He hadn't realized he'd travel such a large distance, and was beginning to really hate stags.

After a couple hours of drawing out Riptide to scare off some animals, using his powers to blow some trees up, tripping on vines, twisting his ankle on several large tree roots, he finally made it back to the edge of the hunter's camp. _Ahhhh, at last. I never thought I'd be so happy to see this place again._ Percy thought cheerfully. His happy mood didn't last long. Barely had he thought of it when he heard and felt a deep rumbling. He turned and saw the same group of stags charging after him. _Oh Hades, this isn't possible!_ Thankfully, he was near the edge of the forest and it meant he had space to spread his wings. He sprinted 100 yards and leapt into the air, shooting past laughing and shrieking hunters and almost crashing into Artemis. He swerved to avoid hitting her but in doing so, he clipped the edge of his wings against a archery target and went sprawling. He felt the rumbling get closer and braced himself for the impact, but a sharp whistle pierced the air and the rumble instantly stopped. He slowly turned his head sideways and saw Artemis gently shooing the stags away, and they obeyed so nicely and so kindly, you would never have thought they'd be so ferocious. _My Hero…_ Percy thought grumpily.

Then Artemis turned towards him with that enchanting little smile on her face, her silver eyes glowing as they danced with laughter. _Ah hell, I really have to stop myself from looking in her eyes._ Percy slowly struggled to a standing position, wincing at how sore his feet and legs were. He let his wings droop down, too tired to retract them.

"My, my, Perseus, but I've seen you in better condition, even after yesterday's battle, you seemed to be better than this." Artemis said, pointing at his shirt and pants.

Percy looked down and was quite unsurprised to see that his shirt was badly torn, he was bleeding a little and his pants had big rips in them. This was his second shirt and jeans destroyed in so many days.

"Well, what do you expect? Those stags are awful, they chase you at such high speed, you don't have _any_ time to take notice where you go. And those tree branches! Terrible! I swear that the dryads hate me. And why do you even pick a deer as your animal? They're so violent." Percy complained.

Artemis opened her mouth to offer a retort but was cut short by Thalia and the rest of the huntresses.

"Hey Kelp Head, how was your walk in the park?" Thalia asked cheerfully.

Percy glowered at her. "Fine. Just fine. My legs _hurt_ and I'm beat."

"Then take a break. Sit on a log or a bench, and after a while, you'll have plenty of energy." Phoebe added in.

"Yeah, good idea…" Percy mumbled, limping towards a log and promptly crashing on top of it. Artemis knew instantly that the moment Phoebe had told him to sit down, something bad would happen. And she was right. The instant he sat down, all of her hunters burst out laughing. Percy looked at them, thoroughly confused.

"What's so funny…?" Percy asked, staring at them as if they'd gone mad. In response, Thalia pulled sat down on the log next to him and gave him a light shock. Percy instantly jerked upwards, but found out he couldn't. He was stuck to his seat.

"What the…" Percy muttered as the hunters shrieked with laughter again. Percy felt the butt of his pants and realized they were completely stuck to the log.

"Thalia…." Percy growled.

Thalia's response was more laughter. "Whatcha gonna do, Seaweed Brain? You're stuck to your log!" Thalia laughed again, bent double.

Percy glared at her and called on his powers. An instant later, there was a strong burning smell and a thick cloud of smoke. Artemis and the hunters coughed and swatted the smoke away. When it cleared, they saw a Thalia sitting in a pile of ashes, her clothes and face streaked with soot. Percy was guffawing.

"Take that, Pinecone Face. I may be your punching bag, but I'll punch back. I've known you for too long to be Mr. Nice Guy." Percy said, still chuckling.

Thalia looked as if she wanted to blast Percy with lightning but then seemed to think about it. Then she smiled. That in itself scared Percy more than any lightning attack. Thalia was usually the angry, "act first think later" type of person, not someone who'd think before attacking.

"I may be sooty and dirty, but _you,_ Perseus Jackson, are still stuck to your seat. And don't think I'm going to let you go anytime soon." Thalia said, giving Percy a sickly sweet smile. However, Percy returned it, equally as sweet and sick.

"No problem. I'll get myself free easily." Percy replied.

"Oh yeah? How do you plan to do that? Unless you have nail polish remover?" Thalia asked tauntingly.

Percy smiled. A heat began emanating from him as he set himself on fire. The wood began smoking but then stopped. He calmly stood up, brushing some ash off his pants and shirt. He cocked an eyebrow at Thalia.

"You were saying Pinecone Face?" Percy asked triumphantly.

"Fine. But that reminds me, yesterday, you said that you'd tell me something about Jason after you were done with your patrol but you and I forgot. What did you want to tell me?" Thalia asked curiously.

Percy turned red. "Um, it's nothing. Nothing to worry about."

"Percy. You're a bad liar, so tell me."

"No. It'd be an intrusion on his privacy and he doesn't even know I saw it."

"I'm his sister! I'm supposed to know any big things that happen to him! Now tell me _now,_ or I'll blast you with enough lightning to fly to Olympus." Thalia warned.

Percy snorted. "That might've been possible when I was still a demigod, but not when I'm part demigod and part immortal. Last time you tried, I completely whipped your butt."

The air around Thalia started to crackle as she drew her twin knives. "Yeah? Except I've been practicing. You, you've been laboring about, not much time to practice, so I think the odds are pretty good." Thalia growled.

"Are you sure about that? How do you know I don't have new tricks?" Percy asked, grinning slightly.

"Bring it on Seaweed Brain, I'm always ready." Thalia challenged.

Percy gave a nod. Then he transformed into his liquid form, shooting across the distance between him and Thalia in a nanosecond. Thalia toppled as he slammed into her and Percy wrapped his liquid form around Thalia, twining around her legs, binding her arms tighter than a straightjacket and covering Thalia's mouth. Thalia struggled, so he hardened a bit of his form into several sharps points and rested them on Thalia's neck. She froze.

"Defeat?" Percy asked.

Thalia gave a slight nod. Instantly, Percy unwrapped himself and reformed himself into his flesh-and-bone form. Percy fought back a grimace as his muscles ached again. Instead, he turned towards Thalia with a forced grin.

"So, who won?" Percy said triumphantly.

Thalia gave a grumble and muttered. "You. Again."

Percy's grin widened and he cupped a hand around his ear. "I'm sorry, but what did you say? Didn't quite catch that."

Lightning started jumping across Thalia's skin. "Shut. UP." Thalia said through clenched teeth.

Percy smirked. "Sure. No problem."

"Perseus, whenever could you change your form into a liquid? I know Hestia gave you the ability to transform into a crane but did Poseidon give you the ability to change your body into water molecules?" Artemis asked.

Percy nodded. "That's correct, my lady. I can travel much faster in liquid form, but it tires me. Makes my muscles ache."

Artemis laughed. "Little wonder. You seem to move almost like a snake in that form, so you'll have to work on it."

Percy gave a groan. "Great. Archery, wilderness training, and water traveling. Huh. Fun." Percy grumbled. "May I go and change my clothes my lady?"

Artemis nodded. "When you're back, we'll start eating. No matter how tired you are, you still have to make dinner." Artemis called after him as he limped towards his tent.

"I wonder what Percy saw Jason do?" Thalia pondered out loud.

Artemis was about to answer when a flash of light and a strong puff of perfume indicated a god's arrival. In this case, Aphrodite.

"I believe I can answer that question for you, Thalia." Came Aphrodite's throaty voice.

"Aphrodite. What are you doing here in my camp?" Artemis asked stiffly. They both knew what she meant. They never worked well together. The only time they had worked together was during the fight with Typhon.

"Look, I would rather fuck a old dirty man than ask you for help, but I suppose circumstances change. I need your help. More precisely, my _daughter_ needs your help." Aphrodite said.

"Your _daughter?_ She wants to join the Hunt?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"You know this isn't the first time Artemis. And the last couple times my children joined, they followed you faithfully." Aphrodite said, glaring at Artemis.

Artemis gave a grumble. It was true. She had expected the Aphrodite kids that had joined her hunt to drop out almost immediately, but they had stayed true to their oath, never once even coming _close_ to breaking it. There was always the first time though.

"Fine. If she wants to, then I'm not stopping her. But at least tell me why." Artemis commanded.

Aphrodite nodded. "You see, the Hunt is actually the only place she can go, she can't go to Camp Half Blood, because there are men there. She's very sensitive to men, because ever since he father died-a _wonderful_ man by the way- she has had to stay with her two uncles and her aunt. And you know what that means." Aphrodite said angrily, her rainbow eyes flaring. "She's still a virgin thank Zeus, but she's beaten up and bruised. I'm helping her hide and evade her relatives and the monsters, but it's getting increasingly hard with those stupid laws. Also, her relatives and the monsters are closing in. That's why I need your help."

Artemis knew what she meant. The Ancient Laws forbade the gods from meddling or interfering with mortal affairs, which unfortunately meant their own children. However, as a goddess of maidens, she could use it as a loophole and help demigods more than the other gods. Then she remembered what Aphrodite had said. The young girl was being chased by her relatives, who were completely mortal. She cursed.

"What is it?" Aphrodite asked. "You agree to help, don't you?"

"Yes, _I_ agree to help, but I don't think I can. She's being chased by her relatives, who are mortal." Artemis explained. "And you know what that means."

Aphrodite's face fell. Then it brightened. "Wait, you can tell Percy to fetch her! He's a demigod, not a full immortal, so he can do it, no problem at all."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Right. You tell her that my Hunt is a female only group, and a boy shows up to fetch her." What she didn't say was that she was reluctant to send Percy because he was so tired.

Aphrodite shrugged. "I don't see the problem with it. She's going to have to know about it later, and besides, Percy is _such_ a wonderful man…" Aphrodite said dreamily.

Artemis had a intense urge to smack Aphrodite's face. "Let's ask him, shall we?" She managed to force out.

Aphrodite nodded. "Where is he anyways?"

"He's changing his clothes because he had a… incident and his clothes got ripped."

At exactly that moment, Percy walked up to Artemis, ready to ask her for further "instructions" but stopped short when he saw Aphrodite.

" _Aphrodite?_ What are you doing _here?"_ Percy asked, disbelief etched all over his tired face.

"My, but you don't look so good, Percy." Aphrodite said, walking up to Percy with a swing to her hips. "You sure I can't tempt you with a massage?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I highly doubt that's the reason why you're here, Aphrodite. What do you want?"

"Well, I was wondering whether you could save and fetch my daughter?" Aphrodite asked, batting her eyelashes.

"No. I'm tired, and besides, I'm not helping that Camp. They can send their own satyrs to get her and protect her." Percy said in a monotone.

"Look, Percy, I need you to help the girl. She's being chased by a group of monsters and her nasty relatives, and she also wishes to join the hunt." Artemis explained, motioning to Aphrodite to stay quiet. Aphrodite snuggled up to Percy but he took a step backward to avoid her.

Percy sighed. "As you wish, my lady. Any information on where I can find her?"

Artemis looked at Aphrodite. "Well, I've been helping her hide and run, but it's kinda hard to keep up with her thanks to those stupid Ancient Laws. However, I _do_ know she's somewhere in Manhattan."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh thanks, that's useful. Manhattan is pretty darn big, in case you didn't know."

"Well, here, take this ring, the closer you are, the faster that red light will pulse. If it's a steady light, then you'll know she's somewhere _very_ near." Aphrodite said, pulling a ring off her finger.

Percy looked at the ring warily. Aphrodite caught the look and quickly reassured him. "Don't worry, I swear on the Styx that this ring will not make you do stupid stuff and it will help you in locating my daughter."

Percy nodded and took the ring, sliding it onto his ring finger. "So what's her name?"

Aphrodite shook her head. "Can't tell you. Besides, if she tells you herself, it'll be better for you and her, since she'll be able to know you and will know that you're part of the hunt."

Percy nodded slowly. "So all I do is just fly around Manhattan until I manage to locate her."

"Yes. Please, will you do it Percy?" Aphrodite practically begged. For a god, just one 'please' was more or less equal to groveling at one's feet.

Percy sighed. "Fine. But you owe me one."

Aphrodite instantly cheered up. "Sure! No problem, here, I'll toss this in for free." She snapped her fingers and Percy was instantly engulfed in a cloud of white smoke. A "Hey!" was heard and then the smoke cleared.

"Oh wow." Aphrodite breathed. "Even better than I expected…"

Artemis looked at Percy with a mix of horror and admiration. "Perseus… what are you _wearing?_ "

Percy was wearing a midnight-black t-shirt with a hood that had a faceless and featureless figure on the front with black bat wings spreading from behind him. The figure was lined in green and was surrounded by a halo of light, making it look like the black figure on the shirt was standing in front of a sun. Above and below it were the words 'GUARDIAN ANGEL'. On top of his shirt, he was wearing a pitch black leather jacket and matching leather pants, the shoulders of his leather jacket flaring out slightly, heavily reminding Artemis of what Thalia liked to wear. Both were lined with sea green lining and they also had slits in the back for Percy's wings to slide out. He was also wearing polished black shoes that were flat soled, good for running and fighting.

But what surprised her the most were the amounts of _chains_ on his jacket and pants. There were long chains, short chains, and medium chains; there were several running parallel on his forearm, a chain circling the cuff of his jacket, chains on his shoulders, chains attached to the front of his jacket, all over the place. Then Artemis turned her attention to his pants. His pants had even more chains, running from top to bottom and side to side. But what Artemis noticed was that these chains seemed deadlier. Thinner, more flexible, and they had a shiny sheen to them. They were also tight against his clothes, not hanging loosely. Artemis had to admit, he looked good.

"I have no idea my lady. I must say, I actually like the shirt. But what is with all these chains? This is _Thalia_ style!" Percy exclaimed.

Aphrodite smirked. "There's a reason for those chains. Just in case you meet her relatives, I would _greatly_ appreciate it if you could, ahem, send them to the Fields for me. Those chains are made of titanium, not celestial bronze." Aphrodite said with a meaningful look.

Percy picked it up. It meant that Aphrodite wanted him to strangle them. And the chains also meant that he would be protected from monsters and mortals, where he went. He grinned.

"I get it. Thank you Aphrodite." Percy said.

"If you want, I could always offer you something more…intimate." Aphrodite said in a sultry voice.

"And you'll forgive me, of course, if I say that I'd rather sleep with my first stepdad." Percy said in a sardonic tone.

Aphrodite gasped while Thalia choked back a laugh. "Why don't you like me, Perseus? Aren't I beautiful enough? Everyone else likes me." She pouted.

Percy gave her a grin. "Sure, you're beautiful and all, but you use too much make-up. You want natural beauty; go take a look at Artemis and Calypso." With that, Percy extended his wings and shot into the air.

Aphrodite stared at Artemis with a mix of shock and outrage. "Did he just say _Artemis?"_ She screeched incredulously.

Artemis fought back a grin and composed her face. "No, I distinctly heard him say Calypso though."

Aphrodite glared at her, then disappeared with a huff, leaving a such a strong scent of perfume, it smelled like the entire Fifth Avenue shops were here. Artemis waved her hand in front of her nose and turned to her hunters. All of them were gagging and coughing, except for Thalia, who was smirking at her.

Artemis glared at Thalia. "What is it?" Even though she knew just exactly what Thalia was smirking about.

Thalia quickly wiped the smirk off her face. "Nothing, my lady. Do I have you permission to make a batch of hot chocolate whilst we wait for Percy?"

Artemis nodded. Thalia walked off, taking a couple of hunters with her. She turned her thoughts back to what Perseus had just said. _Percy thinks I look better than Aphrodite?_ Artemis thought wonderingly.

Percy flew high above Manhattan, breathing in deep breathes of the cold and crisp air, in an attempt to clear his head. He seriously hoped that Artemis, or more specifically, her hunters, wouldn't beat him up for letting slip that he thought of Artemis as a natural beauty. Percy mentally smacked himself again. That was one of his flaws. He was impulsive and always spoke before thinking. He had only meant to say that he thought Calypso was more beautiful than Aphrodite, but his brain had added in Artemis before he could stop it. Come to think of it, Artemis really was impossibly beautiful. She always had a silvery aura around her that enhanced her flawless skin, and she was lean and fit, tall for a female at around 5'9". And her eyes, her eyes were the most spectacular he had ever seen, a deep and bright silver that changed with her moods. She also had a temper which Percy found impossibly endearing. Percy could've continued to list off the things he found amazing, but he was wrenched from his thoughts by a flashing red light. It was the ring. It was pulsing steadily, faster and faster.

 _You're getting near her, Perseus._ A voice spoke in his mind. It was Aphrodite.

 _How the hell can you get into my mind? I thought you had to be able to see me?_ Percy asked. At least, that's what he thought, considering the last few times he'd had a mental conversation with a god.

 _Well, there's another reason I gave you the ring, you know._ Aphrodite replied. Even though Percy couldn't see her, he was ready to swear on the Styx that she was smirking. _And did you really say that Artemis is more beautiful than me?_

 _Aphrodite, shut up. I need to rescue your daughter, right? Well, help me find her._

 _I can't do much from here. But stretch out your senses for any monsters, and you should be able to find her. Gotta go, I have…business to attend to._ Aphrodite said.

Percy gave a mental snort. _Yeah, and what type of business is that? Traveling across the states and finding another person to bed with?_

Silence. Percy sighed and decided to try what Aphrodite told him. He stretched his sense to its maximum and discovered a group of monsters almost right below him. _Excellent._ Percy transformed into a crane and shot straight down, landing lightly in front of the group of monsters. Dracaene. Easy peasy. He reformed back into his original form and whipped out Riptide, not bothering to go dual blade. In a flash, the group was all dust. Percy capped Riptide, pulled up his hood and slowly walked around, listening at alleyways for cries of help or footsteps. The rings was glowing a steady red now, which meant he was very near. On a whim, he took a right into a small alleyway and followed the tight and twisting route. Then he heard voices.

"…finally found you, you damn bitch. You've led us on a merry chase, Tracy, and while I don't know what those explosions were or how the _hell_ you managed to enter a Givenchy store and not get noticed, but whatever, we found you. We're taking you back home and going to give you a lesson that should stick in your mind on not making us angry, understand?" A man's voice snarled, harsh and cruel.

"You three aren't my family! You-you're liars and cheaters! I'm not going back to that dump!" A girl's voice shrieked back. However, Percy could sense fear in it. He rounded a corner and found two enormously fat males and a corpulent female, all holding baseball bats, standing over a little girl who was bruised and bleeding from several cuts. She was also dressed in a worn out and dirty shirt and pants. Percy gave a growl of anger as he unhooked a chain from his jacket and held it between his hands. It reminded him of Gabe Ugliano and he felt hatred boiling in him.

"Oh? Well then, perhaps we should teach you a lesson right now and some more when we bring you back then!" the female yelled. She raised her bat and was about to bring it down when Percy threw the chain. It whipped through the air and slammed into the baseball bat, wrapping across and wrenching it out of her hands. The female gave a shriek as it flew out of her hands. Percy stepped out, letting his shoes crunch against the gravel loudly. All three instantly whirled around on him, the fat female cowering behind the two fatsos. Percy decided to name them Fatso Number 1 and Fatso Number 2, with the women as Fatty the Female Fatso.

"This-thi-This is a private matter! Back off and we'll let you live!" Fatso Number 1 stuttered out.

Percy didn't offer a verbal reply. Instead, he unhooked another medium chain and idly swung it about.

"This is the last warning kid! One more step and I'll hit you!" Fatso Number 2 warned. Percy rolled his eyes, even though they wouldn't be able to see it with his hood on and the low light. Fatso Number 2 leaped forward with a cry, swinging the bat as badly as Matthew would swing a sword. As the bat swung down, Percy raised both of his hands, the chain forming a bridge in between. The bat landed right on the chain and Percy tightened it as he wrenched it out of Fatso Number 2's hands. He flipped the bat over, caught it by the handle and bashed Fatso Number 2's head into the concrete wall with it. Without pausing, Percy whipped the bat in a overarm swing, letting it fly and smash into Fatso Number 1's oversized belly.

Fatso Number 1 flew backwards, the wind knocked out of him as Percy advanced on Fatty the Female Fatso. She cowered for a second, then launched herself at Percy like a cannonball. Percy sidestepped, and as she flew past him, he whipped his foot around, smashing it into her back with enough force to snap her spine in half. She flew forward and landed face first with a loud crash, limp as a rag doll. Percy turned around as Fatso Number 2 stumbled after him, the left half of his face a messy red paste and the right side of his swollen.

"I'll kill youuu…rrr" He said in a slurred voice, shuffling towards him like a zombie. Percy gave a snort and whipped his chain around the man's thick neck and tightened it. He instantly began choking, soon, white foam began spilling from his mouth. Percy squeezed the chain even tighter with a single merciless move, cutting into the man's neck. Percy heard footsteps behind him and turned around, choking Fatso Number 2 with one hand holding the chain. Fatso Number 1 raised his bat and brought it down in a smashing motion. Percy leaped aside and pulled Fatso Number 2 forward, right into Fatso Number 1's line of fire. There was a loud crack as the bat slammed onto Fatso Number 2's head, cracking the skull. At the same moment, Fatso Number 2 gave a final twitch before stilling, his face black from oxygen starvation.

Percy calmly withdrew the chain and hooked it back onto his jacket, bloodstained, deciding to wash it later. Besides, it was titanium and it wouldn't rust. He advanced on Fatso Number 1 with slow, deliberate steps. Fatso Number 1 cowered and begged for mercy.

"Please, spare my life good sir. Please, have mercy." He groveled.

Percy's hand shot out and grabbed the man by the throat, smashing him into a wall, pinning him there. The fat man's legs dangled a foot above the ground.

"Did you have any mercy on that poor girl when you were beating her with baseball bats?" Percy hissed harshly.

"Please, please, I repent all I've done, please my friend, my good friend, please spare my life…" Fatso Number 1 whispered.

"I would spare you if you were my good friend… But I'm _not_ your friend." Percy hissed. Fatso Number 1's eyes widened a split second before Percy squeeze with all the strength in his hand, snapping his neck and crushing his blood vessels and windpipe into a messy pulp. Percy released his hand, letting the man fall to the floor like a marionette with his strings cut.

"All three of you will meet your _rewards_ in the Underworld. Rest in the Fields of Punishments." Percy whispered. He walked over to the trembling girl, who flinched back from him. She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Don't… don't hurt me please." She whispered.

Percy pulled back his hood. "No problem. I'm not here to hurt you, your mother sent me to rescue you and bring you to a… safe place."

"You mean the hunt?" The girls asked.

Percy looked at her in surprise. "Yes. How did you know? And your name is Tracy, yes?"

Tracy nodded. "Yeah. Tracy Beach. My mother has been helping me these past few days after I ran away. You have to understand, I normally wouldn't run away, but my uncles and aunt are _horrible._ I _had_ to run away, it was just-" She stopped as Percy raised his hand. Percy knelt down beside her so he was at eye level with her.

"Don't worry. I know how it feels. Trust me, I do. How old are you?" Percy asked, gently putting a hand on Tracy's shoulder. Tracy flinched slightly as Percy put his hand on her shoulder. Percy quickly pulled back.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, um, make you flinch." Percy said.

"It's alright, just that I'm afraid of people like you, males I mean, because my uncles were the worst. My aunt was a little better, she usually yells at me instead, but she still hits me. And are you sure that the hunt is a safe place? And I'm 9 years old by the way." Tracy said in a very fast, machine gun like way of speaking. It was obvious she was nervous and scared.

"I'm not the person to answer those questions. But first, we need to get you there. Can you walk or are you too tired?" Percy asked kindly.

"Um, well, I'm kinda sore and my legs hurt…" Tracy mumbled shamefacedly.

Percy shrugged. "No problem. I'll carry you instead. And take a sip of this, it'll make you feel better." Percy said, handing her his flask of nectar. "Remember, just a sip, too much and you'll get a fever or burn up."

Tracy instantly flinched backwards from it. "No thanks. I'm-I'm fine, just need a couple days to rest."

Percy smiled. "Fine. But eat this, it'll help you." Percy said, trading his flask of nectar for a square of ambrosia. "It's safe if you eat a piece like this. Trust me."

Tracy looked at him warily. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't trust you…"

Percy laughed. "You remind me of Piper. A different Aphrodite child, that's good. And I can swear on the River Styx that this piece of ambrosia won't hurt you."

Thunder boomed and Tracy hesitantly reached across and put the piece in her mouth. She chewed on it and many of her bruises instantly disappeared. Her face lit up with a grin, making her dirty face look surprisingly beautiful.

Percy turned around and picked up the chain he had thrown at Fatty the Female Fatso's bat, hooking it back onto his jacket. The chains were pretty useful, and they looked cool. _Perhaps I will thank Aphrodite for this after all._ Percy thought. He turned to find Tracy looking at him, with big puppy eyes. _Uh oh._

"Can I have another piece of ambrosia?" Tracy asked.

Percy couldn't resist the big eyes. "Fine. But this is the last piece, because too much, and you'll burn too." Percy explained, giving her another chunk. She happily took it and munched, the colour returning to her face.

"Yeah, I know, mom told me. She also told me about being a demigod and stuff. I personally think that being a demigod sucks." Tracy said.

Percy smiled. Only a few moments ago, she was a afraid and scared little girl, and now she was much bolder. "So, ready to go to camp?" Percy asked.

"I suppose so… How are we getting there?" Tracy asked.

"We fly."

Tracy stopped. "Fly? How are we supposed to…" She stopped as she saw Percy's wings spreading from his back.

"Oh."

After several screams, whoops of delight, loop de loops, flying upside down and near misses with some buildings, Percy finally spotted the hunters camp. He was dead tired. Not from the small fight with the mortals, but from the things Tracy had "asked" Percy to do after she got over her initial shock that he could fly. Right now, Tracy was perched contentedly on his back, her legs wrapped across his chest and her head and hands on his head.

"Is that the hunter camp?" Tracy asked, pointing towards a group of lights.

"Yup. That's where you're new home will be, if you're willing to accept the "terms"." Percy said.

"Terms?" Tracy sounded nervous.

"Don't worry, since you don't like men, that's absolutely no problem."

"But what about you?"

"Well, I'm the guardian of the hunt, so I won't be going anywhere." Percy said, amused that Tracy thought of him as some sort of plaything.

"Oh good." Tracy said. She sounded relieved.

"Alright, hang on tight." Percy said. He angled his wings downward, keeping a tight grip on Tracy's legs while she gave a shriek of delight. He landed with a slight thump and bent down to let her off.

"Jackson Airlines thanks you for flying, our destination has been reached so can you please get off so I can stretch my poor back." Percy said. He heard some light laughter.

Tracy got off and instantly clung to his leg. "Percy… who are they?" she whispered, tugging on his pants.

Percy stopped his stretching and looked to where Tracy was looking. Artemis, in her 18 year old form, and the hunters were gathered there, watching.

Percy smiled. "It's alright Tracy, they're your new family." Percy said, gently disengaging Tracy's fingers from the chains on his pants. He led her to Artemis. "Mission was successful, my lady. The relatives are currently in a… judging stage. Hopefully, they will get what they deserve." Percy said.

"If not, I'm sure you dealt out a reasonable enough punishment for them when they were alive, yes?" Artemis asked, chuckling.

"Well, not really. I mean, ok, yeah, broken spines, a black face and a broken neck, plus some bruises. If I'd had time, I would've done a lot more. Poor Tracy got beaten up, but I patched her up with some ambrosia." Percy replied. Artemis nodded and turned her attention to Tracy, adopting a motherly face and tone while she spoke.

"Hello Tracy, so that's your name? And what's your age?" Artemis asked.

Tracy looked up at her nervously. "Tracy Beach, my lady. And I'm 9 years old."

Artemis nodded. "Rather young. You'll be the youngest in my hunt if you're willing to join. We'll have a quick talk in my tent and then we'll have dinner, alright? And Perseus, go prepare dinner."

"Your will, my lady." Percy said, doing his special bow. He turned to Tracy. "Don't worry, everything will be alright. And I suggest you follow Artemis's words, she's quite a bit wiser than I am in matters like these. If you want tips on sword and knife fighting though, then I'm always available." Percy said, grinning.

Tracy nodded and followed Artemis to her tent. The rest of the hunters dispersed to the dining area, while Thalia hung back to talk with Percy.

"Damn, I like your clothes." Was the first thing she said as they walked.

Percy smiled. "They're quite useful. Especially the chains. I could teach you how to use them if you want to wear your old clothes again."

"You're going to have to convince Artemis to let me wear them."

"No problem. I'll just tell her it's good for self –defense against mortals and such, and she'll probably listen. I hope so, anyway." Percy said.

Thalia shrugged. "I hope so." Then she turned towards Percy with a sly grin on her face. "Did you really say that Artemis was a natural beauty? Better than Aphrodite?" Thalia smirked as Percy's face reddened.

"Thalia, shut up. I was just, um, trying to piss Aphrodite off." Percy mumbled.

"C'mon Seaweed Brain, you can tell me." She bumped him with her shoulder. "So, did you really say it? Did you really mean it?"

Percy ignored her question, which caused Thalia's smirk to deepen. To their surprise, when they arrived to the dining area, Artemis and Tracy were already there, the latter dressed in hunters clothes with a silvery aura glowing around her. The other hunters were welcoming Tracy to the family.

"Thalia! _There_ you are. C'mon, welcome our newest sister to the family." Artemis said. Thalia smiled and walked straight to Tracy, who looked nervous and was rather stiff. She gave her a big hug, followed by a "Welcome to the Hunt, Sister."

"Thanks." Tracy mumbled. "You're the Lieutenant?" Thalia nodded. "So you're the oldest?" Everyone laughed.

"Nah, I'm the middle one. Not the youngest, since a lot of us came after the Titan War. You're currently the youngest, in real age and time spent in the hunt. Phoebe, Elizabeth, Diana and Christy are among the oldest." Thalia explained. "Now come on, let's eat." Everyone sat down, and, unsurprisingly, Tracy chose to sit next to Percy.

Percy approached his chair with a cautious look. "Don't worry Percy, I didn't prank your part of the bench." Thalia reassured him. Percy had a relieved look and promptly sat down… and hit the ground hard. The hunters shrieked with laughter and even Artemis had a smile on her face.

"What the- Thalia! You said you didn't prank it!" Percy said indignantly, glaring at her.

Thalia had a innocent look on her face. "I didn't prank it. One of the others must've pranked it."

Percy gave her a last good glare before walking off and pulling a stool over in place of the big hole where his bench space had once been.

"What do you guys want to eat then?" Percy asked grumpily.

Thalia turned to Tracy. "So, what do you want to eat then? You're the new one, so you get to make the choice today. No need to be frugal about it, Percy can make whatever you want. As long as it's not like shark fin soup or something fancy like that."

Tracy blushed as everyone looked at her. "Um, macaroni and cheese, two grilled chicken legs and a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy?"

Percy smiled. "No problem." He clapped his hands, causing the food to appear in front of each huntress. Tracy's eyes almost bugged out.

"How-how'd you do that?" Tracy asked in amazement.

Percy grinned. "A little trick of mine. Ok, no, it's a ability that I got from my patron Lady Hestia. Awfully nice and kind goddess. So, dig in." He invited them.

The huntresses attacked their food with their customary enthusiasm. Percy also began eating quickly, since he was starving from all the things he'd had to do today. After a while, he noticed that Tracy was only eating her food half-heartedly. He gently lay a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and looked up at him.

"Anything wrong, Tracy?" Percy asked. He sensed that something was bothering her, and it was a big something.

"Um, nothing. Just kind of nervous." Tracy said hastily, avoiding Percy's suddenly sharp and piercing gaze.

Percy gave her a warm smile. "Now, I may not be the brightest person in the world, but even I can tell something is bothering you. And one thing I've learned from my experiences as a demigod is that everyone has their own fears. And they have to face it, they can't always hide it underneath. If you try to hide it, it'll destroy you." Percy said warmly.

"I-How'd you know?" Tracy asked.

"I've had my own share of fears. I fought Phobos, that damn brat of Ares, and he showed me what _was_ my greatest fears." Percy sighed. "It was a picture of Camp Half-Blood burning, with all my close friends asking me for help, to make a choice, a choice that would save them…or destroy them. And while Phobos may be a stupid git, he showed me what I feared most, and what I had to face down. It's about time I let it go now anyways, since that camp has left me. Most of it, at any rate." Percy said bitterly.

The entire table was silent. Artemis watched with admiration at how Percy was trying to get Tracy to let go of her tension and fears. She too, had sensed something, but she had put it down to nervousness. But Percy, being a hero who had suffered his own share of good times and bad times, was wiser than she was on this subject.

Tracy looked at Percy with trembling lips. Then she started talking very fast. "It's-it's just that when my dad died after being sandwiched between a semi-truck and a tanker, they put me with my only other relatives, which were my uncles and aunt. They welcomed me at first, with s-smiles and all great stuff. And I thought that I had a family. But then… the next day they revealed their true c-colours, they beat me and forced me to w-work and treated me like a sl-slave." Tracy began crying a little. "And, well, this camp reminds me of that. I just don't know whether I'll meet a permanent home." Tracy whispered.

Percy gently wiped her tears away with the cuffs of his jacket. "You don't need to worry, the Hunt is quite fun, and it's the safest place on Earth for females. And I promise you, that the Hunt will be your permanent family."

Tracy looked at him with pleading eyes. In those eyes, Percy saw that Tracy desperately wanted a family, someone dependent to talk to, to confide herself to. "What about you?" Tracy asked.

Percy smiled. "Of course I'll be here. I'll be here long as my lady Artemis allows me here."

"You promise? You promise that this'll be a permanent family? This isn't some trick or anything?" Tracy asked.

Percy looked her straight in the eye. "I promise."

Tracy smiled a little. "Thank you." She said meekly, before returning to eat her food with a vigour. The other huntresses looked slightly uncomfortable, but returned to eating their food without saying a word. Percy smiled slightly before he too, returned to eat his food. Once they finished, Tracy had requested that Percy bring her to her tent.

"Is that alright with you, my lady?" Percy asked Artemis.

Artemis nodded. "And don't forget that you still have archery lessons with me tomorrow, Perseus!" Artemis called after the disappearing forms of Percy and her huntresses. She distinctly heard a groan in response. Artemis shook her head. Perseus was so damn intriguing. She was deeply touched at how kind and understanding Percy had been, using his own experiences to relate to Tracy. Artemis could also tell that Percy fully intended to keep his promise, it was so obvious in his eyes. He fully intended to keep his word, unbreakable oath or not. And that just made him ever more endearing. Artemis cursed as she walked back to her tent. He was making it so hard for her to pull herself away from him. But she would.

She would find some way to distance herself. But in the meantime, _Damn you, Perseus Jackson. Damn you._


	11. Chapter 11

**Percy**

Percy woke to a sharp pain on his head and face. Then he felt something thumping painfully against his chest. His eyes flew open and saw a woodpecker pounding away on his chest.

"WHAT THE HADES!" Percy roared, sitting up straight as a board. The woodpecker flew off with a screech while Percy wobbled and fell… right into the water. Percy surfaced, spluttering slightly. _What. The._ Hades. _Is going on?_ Percy thought, completely bemused. He concentrated his thoughts and froze the water. He slowly raised himself up and took note of his surroundings. He was on a river in a part of the Adirondack Park he had never seen before. He then realized the thing he fell off of was a mattress. Then it hit him. The hunters. _Stupid hunters, what did I do? Just because I said 'Good Night' to Tracy?_ Percy thought angrily. Then he realized he shouldn't jump to conclusions so soon, so he decided to walk back to the hunters camp before getting angry. Percy turned to his mattress and forced the water out of it before swinging it onto his back as he followed his sense back to camp. Even without the water, a mattress was still pretty heavy.

Half an hour later, and well past breakfast time, Percy stumbled into the camp, walking past several hunters who cheered and gave each other high-fives. _So, my suspicions are correct. Still, I shouldn't yell at the hunters, since that's begging for death from Artemis._ Percy thought grumpily. Percy stomped towards his tent, the mattress on his back, making him look like a oversized, white-shelled turtle. When he reached his tent, the first thing he saw was Artemis, Thalia and Tracy standing in front of his door, Artemis with a pissed off look. Then they saw Percy, and their expressions twisted into a mix of shock and amusement.

"Perrrccy! Where have you been? I thought you disappeared! And what happened to your face? Why are you carrying a mattress on your back?" Tracy whined, running over to him and tugging on his jacket.

Percy looked up at Artemis and Thalia, who were looking at him with amused expressions.

"Hello Tracy, good morning. Hope you had a good night's sleep. And about me carrying a mattress, well, it's nothing. I just _somehow_ managed to fall asleep, floating down a river and waking up with a woodpecker pounding away on my chest. And what do you mean 'what happened to my face?'" Percy asked rather grumpily.

Artemis laughed. "Well, here, take a look." She waved her hand a summoned a mirror and handed it to Percy.

Percy looked at Artemis with a odd face. "I didn't know you could summon mirrors, my lady. I thought that was something Aphrodite does."

Artemis blushed at the mention of Aphrodite, which brought back the memory of Percy stating that she looked better than the love goddess. "Any god or goddess can summon mirrors and chairs boy. Now are you going to look or not?" She snapped.

"Sorry my lady." Percy apologized before putting down the mattress and taking the mirror from her hand, careful not to touch her fingers. He looked at his reflection and instantly saw what Artemis meant and why he had woken up to pains on his face. He had cuts and bruise all over it, and his face also had long scratch marks. No doubt from the woodpecker's claws. Percy sighed. He reached down and pulled out his flask of nectar, took a sip and pulled out a chunk of ambrosia, munching on it as he watched his wounds heal in the mirror. Finally, his face returned to its normal, unscathed face. He handed the mirror back to Artemis.

"Thanks. So what is it now, breakfast time?" Percy asked wearily.

Artemis nodded. "Go put your bed back and meet us at the dining table. The hunters are hungry." Artemis said, smiling slightly.

Percy gave a grumble before kicking open his tent door and putting the mattress down onto his bed frame. He quickly walked to the dining table, where Tracy had saved a seat for him. He looked at very cautiously.

"Don't worry Percy, I tested the seat out before you came. It's safe." Tracy said happily.

Percy couldn't help but smile. At least he had one huntress on his side. Thalia couldn't count because even though she was closer than a sister to him, she loved watching him struggle. He sat down, half expecting it do give way, but it didn't. He turned to Tracy.

"Thank you Tracy, that was kind of you. So, what's it going to be for breakfast?" Percy asked, glad that he could finally sit on a chair without something happening.

"Hmmm, how about a big bowl of chicken noodle soup?" Tracy suggested cheerfully. Percy looked at Artemis and the other hunters for confirmation. They nodded. Percy clapped his hands, summoning oversized bowls of soup. Tracy's face split into a large smile as she happily attacked her soup. Artemis, Percy, the hunters all smiled at Tracy. It was impossible not to feel cheerful around her. She seemed to be such a happy and cheerful little girl.

While Percy was eating, he remembered his promise to Thalia to ask Artemis to let her wear her old goth/punk clothing with the chains. He also decided that with everyone listening, Artemis would be more likely to cave in. Hopefully.

"My Lady, I have a… request." Percy started.

Artemis looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Alright. What's that?"

"Well, my request is to let Thalia wear the clothing that she likes. You know, the ones with chains and spikes. Because those chains can be really useful, like the ones I'm wearing right now. Last night, my little fight was completely done using my chains and my hands, and I must admit, it's a very nice way to fight. Good for self-defense, especially against mortals." Percy finished, saying each word carefully.

Artemis had a thoughtful look on her face. "Are you sure it's useful and it's a good idea? "

"If Thalia is willing to learn, yes, it's very useful. Also, she can imbue the chains with a bit of her lightning powers, since she'll obviously be holding them." Percy said.

Artemis seemed to ponder over it. "I'm still rather unwilling to have Thalia wear all black… she should be wearing silver."

"Well, the chains will be silver. She can have silver lining on her shirt and jackets. And what about me? I'm wearing black. And Phoebe wears plenty of red. Christy, Elizabeth, and Diana wear plenty of blue." Percy argued.

"You're different. It's because I can't bear to see you wearing silver, you look ridiculous every time I picture it in my head. The others, well, at least red is a nice colour. And the Trio are wearing _light_ blue, a sky blue, which is peaceful. Black is dark. About Thalia… hmmm, silver lining you say?" Artemis asked.

 _Artemis pictures me in her head? Wow. That's creepy._ Percy thought. Then he realized Artemis had just asked him a question, so he quickly pulled himself together and forced himself to remember what Artemis had asked. "Um, yeah, silver lining. Nothing wrong with it." Percy said.

Artemis continued to ponder over it, and Percy could almost see the two sides fighting with each other. One wanted to say yes, because it was good self-defense, especially against mortal men who had no respect for females. The other wanted to say no, because girls in her hunt should wear silver.

"Fine. I think it's a good idea, so you, Thalia, have my permission,"-At this, Thalia's face lit up and she beamed a smile at Percy-" but I must ask, what about my other hunters? I think they should learn how to use chains too." Artemis said. The hunters instantly started protesting, but Artemis quieted them down.

"Now listen girls, this is actually a good idea. You can't always rely on distance, and Perseus is a excellent close combat expert. If he were making suggestions about ranged combat, well, then I'd obviously consider your opinion. But I really do think this is a good idea. And I certainly prefer this than the ' _if'_ alternative." Artemis said, looking at each of the hunters. The hunters nodded. They completely understood what she meant and decided that it was best to be safe than sorry. However, Percy could tell they were unhappy that he, a boy, had to teach them how to do something. Percy gave a mental sigh. He'd deal with that later.

"About your hunters, well, that's easy. Silver chains on silver clothes and jackets. Would look pretty nice too, come to think of it." Percy said.

"Wait, what? I thought you had to wear a certain type of clothing to have chains on them!" Artemis exclaimed.

Percy grinned. "Er, no, it's just that with Thalia's style, the chains come standard. You can easily add on chains anywhere if you want to."

"So that means Thalia doesn't have to wear black then!" Artemis said indignantly.

"Too late my lady! You already promised!" Thalia said gleefully.

Artemis glared at Percy. Percy met her gaze steadily, giving her a charming smile that he knew would throw her off. It did. Artemis turned her head away, blushing. In an attempt to cover it up, she quickly asked a question.

"Whatever. But how do you propose to get the silver-lined clothes and chains for Thalia and my hunters?" Artemis asked, not meeting Percy's gaze.

Percy smiled. "Good thing Aphrodite owes me a favour, eh?" Percy said, twisting the ring that Aphrodite had given him. "Speaking of which, I gotta return this ring back to her."

Artemis glared at him. "You're asking Aphrodite for _help?_ " Obviously, asking Aphrodite for help galled her badly.

"No, I'm merely…ah, _claiming_ the favour that is owed to me." Percy said, smirking slightly.

"Whatever…" Artemis grumbled, reaching into her pocket for a drachma. Before she could take it out however, there a huge puff of pink smoke and the strong smell of perfume. It was Aphrodite. Again.

"Aphrodite. What are you _doing_ here?" Artemis asked stiffly.

"Hello Dearie, hope you're having a good time so far." Aphrodite said to Tracy, who looked a little nervous. To Artemis, she said "No need to be so angry, I merely require Perseus's services…again." Aphrodite replied.

For some reason, that pissed Artemis off even more. "Perseus is a guardian of the hunt, _not_ some type of for-hire hit man." Artemis said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, but this _does_ relate to Tracy, which is the reason why I asked. Also, Percy is the best candidate for it, no one else can do it." Aphrodite explained, pouting slightly.

Artemis sighed. "Fine. Get on it with it. What is it?"

"Well, I'd be _eternally_ grateful-and always _available_ \- to Perseus if he could help persuade Hades to toss Tracy's relatives into the Fields of Punishment." Aphrodite said, throwing Percy a sly look to which he replied by giving her a bored expression. Then it changed to surprise as he registered what she said.

"Wait, _what?_ You want _me_ to go persuade Hades to throw those three fatties into Punishment? And why the hell are they anywhere _but_ Punishment anyways? I mean, that's what they deserve." Percy said.

"I know. I asked Lord Hades where they went this morning, and turns out they went to _Elysium._ Why? Because Minos convinced the other two. Apparently, Minos said that they arrived with such terrible wounds, internal injuries, death by lack of oxygen, and death by paralysis, he said that they "deserved better" in the after-life. The other two agreed apparently…" Aphrodite said angrily. "Even though I do thank you for giving them such painful endings."

Percy's eyes burst into flames. " _Minos?_ That back-stabbing, treacherous piece of Minotaur dung! Curse him. And why can't Hades reverse the choice?"

"Because Hades doesn't believe me. And he's just too lazy, that cranky, dark, smelly lord of the dead." Aphrodite said. "I would have tried to contact Nico, but Hades doesn't want my "influence" so he's blocked off Iris Messages to Nico for now. That leaves you."

Percy nodded. "My Lady, I request permission to go and convince Hades to knock Minos off as a judge and reverse Minos's decision." Percy said, staring Artemis straight in the eye.

Artemis stared into the green flames and saw the will for justice, for what is right and what they deserve. Another characteristic that she found endearing. _Damn you Jackson, stop impressing me._ Artemis thought angrily. On the outside, she remained calm and impassive. She nodded her head. "You have my permission. But don't you dare think that this'll weasel you out of your archery lessons. And wilderness training. So far, we've done almost nothing in that matter." Artemis said, always eager for the last word.

Percy bowed his head. "Of course not, my lady." Percy turned to Aphrodite. "Oh and Aphrodite, I suppose I also require a favour."

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "Hmmmm, and what's that?" Aphrodite asked, licking her lips.

"Well, you know how yesterday you gave me this outfit with the chains? I think it's very useful, and Artemis has agreed to my preposition that Thalia and the hunters should be outfitted with shirts, jackets, pants, similar to mine. Obviously not as overkill as min, but a few chains you know, enough for self-defense, but too many as to look weird. Except maybe for Thalia, since she's a crazy girl." Percy said.

"Hmmmm." Aphrodite appeared to mull over it. Then she looked at Percy with a seductive smile. "That's a big favour, young godling." Aphrodite said, attempting to throw Percy off balance with her smile. It backfired. Percy returned the smile tenfold, curling his lips into the sexiest, most attractive smile Artemis had ever seen.

"But surely it's not too much to ask for, is it?" Percy said, taking a slight step forward.

Aphrodite stared at him, her face beginning to turn a deep shade of red, speechless for the moment. Artemis was simultaneously amused and furious. Amused because Aphrodite was experiencing what she usually did to guys, but she was also fuming because Percy was giving Aphrodite the smile, not her. And even though she knew that Percy was doing it for her hunters, it did little to calm her down. She started a vow to make archery as hard as possible for Percy, but that thought completely disappeared as she stared at his smile again. _Zeus, damn it._ Artemis cursed silently. She was finally able to stop staring when Aphrodite recovered herself enough to talk.

"Um… n-no, of course not, I…I'll get started right away." Aphrodite stammered out as she turned to her hunters with a critical eye. Percy's smile turned into a triumphant smirk. Thalia barely held back her snicker. Even her hunters seemed amused, although they were doing quite well at hiding it.

"Alright! Now let's see if you girls like this." Aphrodite said, snapping her fingers, causing a pink cloud explosion and the horribly strong stench of what Percy recognized-from many summers stuck in a camp with the Aphrodite children-as Chanel No. 5. Percy gagged and coughed as the cloud dispersed.

"So, how does everyone feel?" Aphrodite asked excitedly.

Percy looked at the hunters. Many of the hunters actually seemed happy about the change of clothes. Most were wearing all silver, but there were a few exceptions. Phoebe was wearing a silver jacket with several chains on the front and arms of her jacket. She was also wearing a blood-red shirt that had a skeleton with his head rolling around on the ground. Her black camo pants had deep red stripes running up and down the side of her pants. She seemed rather content with her clothes. The trio, Elizabeth, Christy, and Diana were wearing a mix of silver and light blue clothing. All three were wearing silver jackets with striped blue shirts and a mix of silver and blue pants. A couple chains glittered on their jackets and pants. Tracy was happily inspecting her outfit, bouncing up and down with the hyperactive energy of a young child. Instead of a silver jacket, she was wearing a dark blue jacket with a silver shirt. Her chains, instead of being in a straight line like most of the others, her chains were in various shapes, most of them in a heart shape and a rose shape. Percy distinctly saw Artemis wince at them. Then Percy turned his attention to the last exception, which was Thalia.

Thalia was wearing a pitch black shirt with a skeleton being hit by a blue lightning bolt on it. Her black leather jacket was buttoned a little past her throat, her odd band buttons easily observable. Her chains glittered all over her jacket, pants, and black leather boots that were also flat soled for good kicks and fast running. She also had two short chains flashing on each of her shoulders, to Percy, it looked more like decoration, as if her silver tiara wasn't enough to indicate she was the lieutenant. Her black hair was now slightly back to the way her original hair style was, spiky but was still long and hanging around her shoulders. She was wearing blood red lipstick, and her black eyeliner was back, enabling her to give anyone her perfect 'evil eye' look. Silver skull earrings dangled from her ears. As was agreed on, all of her clothes were lined in silver. Thalia smiled. Percy had to admit, the red lipstick made Thalia look slightly scary.

"Now, _this_ is my style." Thalia said, unhooking one of her many chains and swinging it around, causing a whirring sound. "You know Percy, other than our eye colours, it'd be easy to mistake the two of us as siblings."

Percy laughed. "Quite true."

Artemis was staring at Thalia in absolute horror. "You _like_ this style?" Artemis screeched.

"Oh c'mon my lady, don't act surprised, isn't this what I was wearing when I had just joined the Hunt?" Thalia asked cheerfully. Artemis rolled her eyes but didn't say anything, instead, she surveyed her hunters.

"Are you all happy with it?" Artemis asked.

"Yup. I love it." Tracy said, bouncing up and tugging at Artemis's hand. "You should wear one too my lady!" Artemis froze while Percy and Aphrodite looked at each other with evil looks.

"Hmmm, a silver jacket/suit combo, a chain on both sides, silver shirt with a moon on it, black pants with silver vine designs on it? Oh, and throwing knife sheathes over each shoulder like mine?" Percy whispered into Aphrodite's ear quickly.

Aphrodite grinned. "You got it." She snapped her fingers, and before Artemis could react, she was surrounded in a cloud of pink smoke. Artemis reappeared a couple seconds later, coughing and gagging.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR, APHRODITE?" She yelled. Then she realized that everyone was staring at her. Percy couldn't help but stare either. She looked stunningly beautiful with her silver suit/jacket combo, a form fitting silver shirt that had a full moon design on the front and her black pants that had silvery vine designs twining up and around her legs. Completing the entire outfit were the ominous looking throwing knife sheathes over each shoulder.

Thalia was the first to recover. "Good job my lady, you've finally caught up with the times!" Thalia said cheerily, walking up and giving Artemis a pat on the shoulder.

"What…?" Artemis asked, thoroughly confused. She was also starting to get embarrassed under Percy's steady gaze and began wondering what Aphrodite had done.

"Oh gosh, here" Aphrodite said exasperatedly, summoning a full sized mirror and putting it in front of her. Artemis stared in shock at her image, from the horrible form fitting t-shirt to the knife sheathes over her shoulders. Her first reaction was rejection. But the more she looked, the more she realized that she actually liked this outfit. Besides the t-shirt of course. She cringed at it, before concentrating on the other parts of her outfit. The throwing knives were in a good place, the same as where Perseus's knives were sheathed. The silver suit/jacket wasn't too bad, and she loved the vine designs on her black pants.

"Well, what do you say?" Aphrodite asked with a expectant look on her face. Artemis gave a internal snort. _I'd rather break my vow than say 'thank you' to Aphrodite._

"Fine. But don't presume to do that again, and _especially_ you, Perseus. Now get going on your little quest and try to get back here before lunchtime." Artemis said crankily.

"As you wish, my lady." Percy replied, doing his special bow.

"And when you come back, um, can you help train my hunters on fighting with those chains? They don't exactly have much experience with it." Artemis said. _Very funny, I refuse to ask a female goddess for help and yet I am perfectly fine on asking Perseus for help…_

Before Percy could answer, her hunters exploded into protest. "My Lady, we don't need a _boy's_ help, we can learn how to fight with the chains perfectly well! Even better than what that _boy_ could teach us!" Phoebe said indignantly, her other hunters joining in. Except for Thalia and Tracy. Artemis bit her lip. She knew why her hunters were acting like this. Especially the old ones. The way Orion had so patronizingly instructed her hunters on how to shoot and hunt properly still stung deeply, but Artemis knew that Perseus wasn't like that. She opened her mouth, ready to quiet them down, but Percy held up his hand to stop her.

"I'm quite fine with that my lady, besides, I haven't had too much practice with the chains myself. Actually, I haven't had much practice at all lately." Percy said loudly, his voice easily carrying over the hunter's commotion. The huntresses instantly quieted down when they heard.

Artemis looked at Percy and thought she saw a flicker of understanding. "Alright. Girls, you can go and start practicing with your chains, partner up and all, but try not to break the chains."

"They won't be able to break the chains, while they may be mortal titanium, they're unbreakable. Fireproof and all. Same with yours Perseus." Aphrodite said.

"Oh. Well then don't worry about that. Percy, go finish your business and come right back." Artemis commanded.

Percy bowed and extended his wings, ready to fly. "Wait, hold on a second, Aphrodite, you said you could tell me what Jason did. What did he do?" Thalia asked.

"Wait, Aphrodite, you know also?" Percy asked.

"Of course! Piper's my daughter, how could I not know? Besides, it was sooo cute." Aphrodite said.

"Wait, this involves Piper? What did he do?" Thalia asked in a urgent voice.

"Oh nothing, Jason just, ahem, had _it_ with Pipe-" Aphrodite said a second before Percy clamped his hand around her mouth.

Thalia looked shocked while Aphrodite, after a brief struggle, was content to snuggle up to Percy and began licking and sucking on his fingers. Percy instantly snatched his hand away and leapt backwards.

"Eww, that's disgusting, control yourself will you Aphrodite?" Percy yelped, wiping his hands on his pants. Aphrodite looked at him with a pained look, pouting.

"Why did you have to leave? I was just getting comfortable!" Aphrodite sniffled. She touched her lips. "And damn, that tasted good."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Well I sure as _Hades_ was not comfortable. Sheesh, can't you just leave me alone and let me do my, excuse me, _your_ job? And go find someone else to screw around with." Percy grumbled.

"Whoa, whoa WHOA! Hold on a second! Seaweed Brain, how the _hell_ did you know that Jason had…had _it_ with Piper?" Thalia yelled at him.

Percy's face turned red. "It was completely accidental, I swear on the Styx. I had just called Leo, via Iris Message, to build some automatons for me, and then I decided to call Jason you know, to catch up with the times. Remember, I hadn't talked to any of them for like 5 months right?" Percy said.

Thalia nodded. "Go on. There has to be another reason."

Percy stiffened. "I don't want to talk about it." Percy said.

Thalia glared at him, obviously not getting his discomfort, even though both Artemis and Aphrodite knew why. Percy glared back.

"I wanted to ask Piper whether I had done anything wrong in my relationship with…her." Percy said flatly. "And I just so happened to Iris Message them while they were lying together nearly naked. I'm pretty sure they didn't hear me though."

"Oh. Sorry for asking Percy…" Thalia mumbled. Then her mood changed to a blazing fury. "But you should've told me! I'm his brother and he's TOO YOUNG TO HAVE IT WITH PIPER!" Thalia yelled, the air around her crackling as she stepped closer to Percy.

Percy held up his hands, trying to calm Thalia down. "Whoa Thals, don't get angry at me, why don't you take this up with Jason?"

Thalia glared at Percy, who found it completely unfair that Thalia was angry at him.

"Fine." Thalia growled. She walked over and punched Percy in the chest before turning to Aphrodite. "Get me to Camp Jupiter, will you? I wanna have a talk with my little brother."

"That's not how you talk to a goddess, Hunter." Aphrodite said in a haughty voice.

"Might as well just drop her off at Caldecott Tunnel, the main entrance to the Underworld is in California anyways. Kill two birds with a stone, right? And give her something so she can teleport back here quickly." Percy said, rubbing his chest where Thalia had punched him.

Aphrodite softened instantly. "Alright. Fine. But only for you, hero. Oh, I forgot to mention, you're going to have quite a bit of trouble when you get into Hade's palace." Aphrodite said, giving Percy a sly smile before raising her hand to snap her fingers.

"Wait! What? What do you mean trou-" And then he felt himself disappearing from the Hunter's Camp. He reappeared right in front of the Underworld's mortal entrance: DOA Recording Studios. He was about to push the door open when he felt a heavy weight in his jacket pocket. He reached in and pulled a small, heavy pouch out. It jingled with a healthy supply of drachmas. On it was a note.

 _You can either give Charon all of it or some of it, it doesn't really matter seeing as you'll always have at least five drachmas available in your pockets at all times._

 _Aphrodite_

 _P.S. I'm always available! And good luck!_

Percy shook his head as he put the pouch and the note back into his pocket. What did she mean by good luck? Was Hades going to kill him when he arrived? _Only one way to find out._ Percy thought grimly, flipping the hood on the back of his up as he push the door open. It was exactly as he remembered it all those years ago, with Muzak music playing in the background with steel gray walls and carpeting with black furniture. Many souls were sitting around, wandering listlessly. Everyone froze when he came in however, and many flinched backwards. He walked straight to Charon's podium.

"Perseus Jackson. Still not dead, or did you "drown in a bathtub again"?" Charon asked, a hint of a smile on his face.

Percy couldn't help but smile either. It had been a horrible lame excuse but it was the best he could've thought of.

"Nope. Still very much alive, thank you, but I need to talk to Lord Hades. And nice suit by the way, I see you've changed it since last time." Percy commented.

For the first time, Charon's face split into a big smile. "Yes! I must say, I have you to thank for, before, I worked for 1 golden drachma a _year._ Can you believe that? One drachma a _year._ Now, it's 5 golden drachmas per _hour!_ 365 days, 56 weeks, 5 golden drachmas an hour! Whoopee!" Charon said excitedly.

Percy grinned. "If I gave you a tip, would you at least take me and some of these dead souls into the underworld?" Percy said, reaching his hand into his pocket.

Charon's eyes glinted. "Well, I'd certainly take you, my dear boy. But for the others, depends on how much the tip is."

Percy pulled the pouch out of his bag and tossed it to Charon. He caught it with a surprised 'oomph' at the weight of it. His eyes widened as he looked inside. "Alright everybody! Free ride to the Underworld! NOW!" Charon barked out excitedly, practically dancing from behind his desk to the front with Percy and many other souls following behind him. Charon opened the elevator and in no time, the elevator had transformed into a huge boat and they were soon at the gates where the judges decided on a soul's fate.

The other souls rushed off and Percy stayed behind to let them go. "Thank you Charon."

"No problem at all, Mister Jackson. Good luck and I hope you come out safely and alive." Charon said before Percy stepped off the boat. Percy calmly walked forward, ignoring the looks the ghosts gave him. Deciding it'd be too much trouble to go through Cerberus, he launched himself into the air, shooting over the gates with ease. Unfortunately, that raised a really loud alarm. Percy ignored that too and flew straight towards Hade's gates. Halfway there, he met the three Furies in mid-flight. He flew past them in a blur as they stared in shock after him, probably surprised that he could fly. He landed in front of Hade's main palace doors; the instant he landed, more than a hundred laser dots appeared on his body. He calmly held his hands up as US Marines carrying RPGs and Grenade Launcher equipped M16s came forward slowly and carefully.

"Lord Hades! Uncle! Open up! I need to talk to you! Or Persephone! Either one!" Percy called out. There was a loud crash and he heard screams and yells, with the occasional moaning. He distinctly heard a female moaning Nico's name, drawing it out like a drunkard.

"Niiicccooooo… Come baaaaack" He heard a female moan loudly. _What the Hades?_ Percy thought. There was another crash and he felt a burst of magic. Then the window at the very top of Hades's palace flew open.

"Perseus! Get up here! I could use your help right now!" Hades yelled.

"What's happening?" Percy yelled back.

"JUST GET UP HERE! YOU'LL SEE!" Hades roared.

The Marines instantly pulled back and motioned to the hidden snipers to stand down. Percy extended his wings and shot up, neatly flying through the window. He looked around and saw a mess. Chairs were overturned, the walls were partly melted by magic, and bunches of flowers and plants were lying all over the place.

"What's hap-" Percy began again, but was interrupted by a yell.

"Father! HELP! She's got through the first barrier! Oh my GODS, heeelllppp!" Nico's voice pierced through the walls, panic clear in his voice.

"Follow me!" Hades commanded before dashing out the door. Percy followed closely. "Care to tell me what's happening?"

"The stupid love goddess Aphrodite has put a spell on my wife Persephone, because I refused to move three souls from Elysium to Punishment. You can't blame me, I can't exactly trust her word you know!" Hades said. "Now I'd like to ask you, what are _you_ doing here in my domain?"

Percy opened his mouth to answer when he was interrupted by a yell just around the corner. "FATHER! HELP! SHE'S GOT ME!" Nico screamed. They rounded the corner to see Persephone crushing Nico, who was frantically trying to struggle out from underneath Persephone, but vines were holding him in place. Persephone had just wrenched Nico's face around to kiss him when Hades snapped his fingers and muttered a word. A hole appeared beneath Nico, and as Nico hung on to the edges of the hole, Persephone and her vines fell, the goddess screaming Nico's name as she fell.

Hades helped his weary and tired son to his feet, giving him a pat on the shoulder as Nico leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. Percy couldn't help but laugh.

"Sooo, Aphrodite's spell was a love spell on Persephone and now she's trying to hit on Nico?" Percy managed to gasp out before surrendering to whoops of laughter.

Nico glared at him. "It's not funny" He snarled. "And who are you anyway?" his hand reaching for his Stygian Iron sword.

"Oh c'mon Zombie Dude, you telling me you don't recognize me?" Percy asked, pulling his hood back.

" _Percy?_ " Nico yelped. He lunged forward, giving Percy a big hug before pulling back. "Where have you been? You more or less disappeared after our last short conversation!" Nico said.

"Well, I've been…around. Not much." Percy said vaguely.

"Bullshit. Even a Titan can lie better than that. What's the truth? C'mon, tell me, I swear on the Styx not to tell anyone." Nico begged.

Percy sighed. "Alright. Well, thing is, I'm a Guardian of the Hunt. Sworn to protect Artemis and her hunters forever." Percy said.

Nico's eyes widened. "To be honest, I'd rather be stuck in the Asphodel Fields than be stuck with those group of rowdy girls." He turned to his father. "Dad, why didn't you ever tell me this?"

Hades shrugged. "I had a feeling Percy would've liked to be alone for a bit. Especially after that little… incident. And I knew you'd know about this sooner or later."

"Yeah, alright, fine, whatever." Nico grumbled. He turned to Percy again. "Sorry about that with _her,_ but can you lend us a hand? We have to get Persephone down long enough for me and my dad to go search for some books that can give us a antidote or at least wake her up." Nico said.

"Yeah, no problem, speaking of which, that's the reason I came down here." Percy said.

"What? Why?" Hades asked.

"Aphrodite sent me to get you to send those three souls to Punishment. And trust me, they deserve it. I saw what they did. They beat up a 9 year old girl who was their relative, and forced her to work like a slave. And the reason why they had such bad injuries was because, um, well, because Aphrodite sent me to "rescue" her daughter." Percy explained.

"Ahhhh, so _that's_ why she took such an interest in these souls. And _that's_ why they had such bad wounds, one fatty came here with a black face." Hades said. "Well, that's no problem, if Aphrodite gets the curse off of Persephone, I'd gladly transfer them to Punishment."

"Wait Father, where's Persephone? She's not usually this quiet, I haven't heard her _at all_ during the time we've spent talking." Nico said.

"Um, she didn't get knocked unconscious when she fell, did she?" Percy asked.

"No no, not possible, I opened up a slide so she would land on her bed all the way down there." Hades said, point towards the ground.

"But you didn't close the slide."

"Oh SHIT!"

Before anyone could move, vines and grass flew around, binding Percy, Nico and even Hades tightly against the wall. Persephone popped out of the hole in the ground, her eyes completely glazed over and filled with artificial lust.

"Hmmmm, I wonder which one I should get?" Persephone said right before leaping at Nico. Nico screamed as he jerked his head to the side as much as he could, causing Persephone to smash her face into the wall.

"That's not nice." Persephone pouted, slapping Nico across the face. This time, the vines wrapped around tightly on Nico's face, wrenching his mouth open. Percy knew he had to act fast. He burst into green flames, burning through the vines in a nanosecond and tackled Persephone, extinguishing his flames as he tackled her to avoid burning her up. The good news was that it allowed Hades to rip himself free and untie Nico. The bad news was that Persephone's lust for Nico appeared to have disappeared, to be replaced by deep lust for Percy.

"Mmmmmm, you're so _hot!"_ Persephone said, reaching for Percy's pants button.

"HADES NO!" Percy yelled, frantically kicking Persephone off and making a dash for the nearest corridor. Nico and Hades both tackled Persephone, holding her by her arms while she struggled, this time moaning Percy's name.

"Try to talk to Aphrodite and get her to at least calm Persephone down!" Hades yelled.

"How? I don't have telepathic powers!" Percy yelled back.

"She's probably listening right now, just try!" Hades grunted, as Persephone struggled even harder.

Percy shrugged and yelled into mid-air." Aphrodite! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HELP YOU IF PERSEPHONE IS CRAZY LIKE THIS?"

 _I'm sorry Perseus, but I can't stop it. I set this as a permanent spell, because I didn't think about calling you for help until it was too late. It'll fade in about half an hour though, so I'll be able to take it off if Hades has kicked Minos off and tossed those three idiots into Punishment._ Aphrodite replied to his mind.

"Another half an hour? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Percy yelled. No reply. "Well Lord Hades, Aphrodite said that it'll start to fade in half an hour, she'll be able to take it off by then if Minos is kicked off the judging table and her daughter's three relatives are thrown into Punishment." Percy said.

Hades gritted his teeth and Percy knew what was going on in his head. On one hand, he was one of the Big Three, and his pride forbade him to bow down to another god or goddess's demands. On the other hand, this spell was causing complete and utter chaos.

"C'mon dad, this is enough trouble for a lifetime. At least for me. And I sure as hell don't want to get chased by Persephone for the rest of my life. To be honest, I'd rather be a dandelion." Nico said.

Hades nodded. "Very well, we shall keep my wife under-" _CRACK!_ Both Hades and Nico flew backwards as Persephone punched them square on the jaw before leaping on top of Percy and rubbing her body against his. She began moaning again.

Percy gave a yell and accidentally let loose some of his power. A wave of fire and force slammed into Persephone, lifting her off her feet before crashing into the wall. She fell to the floor, unconscious.

Percy scrambled up and flipped Persephone over, sighing with relief that Persephone was still breathing, just in a comatose state. Hades and Nico bent over her warily.

"Sorry about this Lord Hades, I just lost a bit of control…" Percy mumbled.

"To be honest, I think that's what was needed. Now I'm going to move her to bed and guard her door before she wakes up and starts chasing us again." Hades said, standing up and summoning a skeleton with a snap of his fingers. The skeleton bowed.

"My Lord."

"I will be moving my Queen to her chambers, and I want a platoon of guards to do whatever it takes to stop her from leaving her room if she wakes up. Don't harm her obviously, but stop her from leaving her chambers. Understand?" Hades said.

"At once, my lord."

"Good. Dismissed."

The skeleton bowed and sank through the floor to dutifully carry out Hades command. Hades turned to Persephone, gave her a kiss on the forehead before snapping his fingers, no doubt teleporting her to her chambers.

"Now let's go and kick Minos off the table." Hades said. Percy and Nico both nodded wearily as they followed Hades through his wrecked palace before heading straight to the judging table.

"So tell me how it has been Perce. And how the crap did you get fire powers?" Nico asked.

"Well, after the fiasco and whatnot, Hestia became my patron. I became her champion. When I was still a full demigod, she gave me a share of her flame powers. Even though she's usually peaceful, since I'm her champion, I can use my fire powers for fighting. She increased my flame powers by a lot when I became part immortal. My dad also increased my water powers. I think Poseidon's still rather grumpy that my flame powers are equal to my water powers." Percy said, grinning slightly. It was good to talk to someone who wasn't staring at you like a piece of dog poo or staring at someone you weren't supposed to stare at.

"Damn. And where did you get such cool clothes man? All black and so many chains, this isn't usually your style." Nico said.

Percy shrugged. "I suppose some of Thalia's style must have rubbed off on me. And this was Aphrodite's idea actually, and while I hate to admit it, it was a good idea. These chains are titanium, and very good for defense against mortals." Percy said. "So how's everything going for you Nico?"

"Well, before this, life was rather boring. I got banned from camp because I'm a "necromancer"." Nico growled. "Not that I care about that blasted camp since it's filled with so many dumb campers, but 'necromancer'? Seriously? That shit filled half-brother you got is the most obnoxious and stuck up asshole I've ever met."

Percy smiled. "I'm glad we share the same sentiments. How about Hazel and Frank?"

"I haven't checked up on them. They were rather busy. And Hazel is still having problems with those jewels popping up out whenever she gets nervous. They may no longer be cursed, but having free diamonds sprouting out of the ground isn't exactly a good idea, you know." Nico said.

Percy nodded. "I agree. But at least if people accidentally touch them, they won't be cursed."

"I wish I could've done something about it. But removing her curse was the best I could." Hades said sadly. "Now, to toss Minos off the table, where should we put him? And the relatives?"

"We can boil Minos in cheese fondue for all eternity. Put him in a place very near Daedalus, so if Daedalus has new inventions, he can try it out on Minos first. As for the relatives, well, one of your worst Punishments available, I think that'd suffice." Percy said.

Nico shuddered. "Are you sure? It includes slowly drilling a hole into your brain, leaking your fluid out, putting termites into them, cutting off your knee cap and pouring red fire ants down them, also has the part where they put mini spiders on to your sensitive parts-"

"Enough. I don't need to know the details. But I think that's a good enough punishment for them." Percy said.

"Alright. Here we are." Hades said, walking up to the table where the three were currently judging. He motioned for a group of guards to surround them. The instant Hades walked up, all three judges instantly stood up, bowing.

"Lord Hades, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" One judge asked.

"It's got nothing to do with you George, nor you Thomas. But it's got something to do with Minos here." Hades said, glaring at the third golden-masked judge.

"What did I do?" Minos asked indignantly.

"Three souls came earlier, with a black face, a broken back and a broken neck. You put them into Elysium knowing full well that they had tortured a poor young girl when they were alive. I have come to put them into Punishment, and to knock _you_ , Minos, off the judging table. I believe there have been hundreds of bad souls who deserved Punishment and yet were tossed into Elysium." Hades turned to George and Thomas. "And I expected better from you two." They bowed their heads in shame and submission.

"You-you can't!" Minos yelled as skeleton guards took a firm grip on his arms, yanking his mask off. His terrified face could clearly be seen. "Who's going to replace me then? Where are you taking me? YOU NEED ME!"

"I am the Lord of the Dead, Ruler of the Underworld, I can do what I see fit. And I don't need you, I just need another judge who is worthy of being one. A fair and honest judge. As to where you are going, you're going to boiled in cheese fondue for eternity! Next to Daedalus!" Hades roared. "Now take him away!" The guards dragged a screaming Minos off to his eternal punishment, justice served at last.

"My Lord, we are very sorry that we have not done a better job. Please accept our deepest apologies. But if I may ask, who is going to be our third judge?" George asked.

"Wait." Hades turned to Percy. "I was thinking whether to instate your mother as a judge Jackson. What do you think?"

"What! No! Let my mom rest in peace, I don't want her to sit behind some table and looking at all the nasty things people have done for eternity!" Percy yelped.

Hades shook his head. "I knew you'd say that. But you do realize that your mother is bored out of her mind? She's a fascinating mortal, who seems to have to do something. Now I know why Poseidon took a liking to her. Besides, being a judge gets all the perks. There are break times where they can relax in Jacuzzis, massage chairs, all the comforts. I can also arrange it so that your step father gets the same comforts too. We'll ask her shall we?"

Percy froze. The prospect of meeting his mother's and step dad's shade was scary. "I-I suppose so…"

Hades clicked his fingers and almost instantly, two shades could be seen coming towards them. Percy immediately recognized them as Sally Jackson and Paul Blofis. They were slightly faded, true, but still easily recognizable. Percy's heart lurched as he saw them, final proof that they really were dead and no longer living. Percy stepped forward but both Hades and Nico thrust him backwards, the latter pulling him into the shadows.

"Hey, why can't I say-"

"Quiet Percy! There are some Ancient Laws me and my dad have to follow, why do you think I couldn't meet my mother? I'm a son of Hades, sure, so I have some more freedom, but there are still rules to follow! Imagine, if you could just stroll down here and talk with your parents, then they wouldn't be dead anymore right? I'm sorry Percy, but this is the way it has to be." Nico said urgently.

Percy sighed and then started tearing up when he saw how sad his mom and step dad's face were when they walked up to Hades. He wanted nothing more to go over and comfort them, show them that he was alright, anything to talk to his mom again. But he couldn't. _Damn laws. How come the bad guys never follow them?_ He watched as his mom nodded her head, agreeing to become a judge. Then Hades said something to both of them, which visibly cheered them up. Hades snapped his fingers and Sally was suddenly dressed up in the black robes of a judge with the golden mask. Paul was dressed in a suit, and sat in a comfy chair behind the three judges, as if he were some type of attendant. Both George and Thomas shook hands with Sally and Paul before taking their seats. Hades then clapped his hands, and the Three Furies appeared. They too had a quick talk with Sally and Paul before Hades pointed into Elysium and then pointed to Punishment. The Furies nodded and took off. Hades turned to where Percy and Nico were standing and snapped his fingers, teleporting them to his palace.

"I am sorry that you could not talk to your mother Jackson. But there are some laws I must follow…" Hades said.

Percy nodded dumbly. "So she accepted? What about Paul?"

"Your mother is the first ever female judge. Your step father will act as a unofficial fourth judge. If the three strongly disagree, then Paul will come in and voice his opinion. Other than that, he'll be something like a relief judge and attendant. If one of the judges gets tired, then he'll step in. Both are very happy to know that you are well. And Sally wishes to never see you in the Underworld, since, well, you know what that would mean." Hades said.

"Yeah, I know what she meant. At least I managed to see her one last time right? So have you moved the three fatties into Punishment? You swear on the Styx?" Percy asked.

Hades gritted his teeth but made the oath. "I swear on the River Styx that the three fatties that you and Aphrodite wanted me to move to the Fields of Punishment is currently suffering some of the worst punishments I have." Hades said. Thunder boomed and Percy knew the oath was made.

"Alright Aphrodite, your wish has been granted, now can you remove your stupid spell on Persephone?" Percy yelled into the air. Percy's ring pulsed red as Aphrodite spoke into his mind.

 _Thank you very much sweetie. The spell should be off of Persephone in about 5 seconds, and remember, I'm always available!_ Aphrodite said into his mind.

"Well?" Hades asked.

"Aphrodite said that the spell should be off in about 5 seconds…" Percy said. Barely had the words left his mouth when the entire palace shook and Persephone's screams could be heard all over.

"APHRODITE! I WILL _KILL_ YOU FOR THIS!" Persephone screamed.

"Ahhhh, well, I suppose that means the spell has been lifted." Hades sighed. "Well, it looks like I owe you some thanks Jackson. But whatever, take these and crush them, they'll transport you back to the Hunt's camp. Nico, I suggest you, ah, take a walk while I explain the situation to Persephone." Hades said, giving Percy a black pearl. Percy nodded his thanks as Hades teleported himself away.

Percy and Nico shook hands. "Well Nico, if my hunter schedule loosens up, perhaps I'll be able to visit you again."

"Yeah, even though I suggest not too soon, since I think Persephone might turn you into a weed or something if she finds out she tried to hit on you also." Nico said, smirking slightly.

"Haha, very funny Nico. But you are stuck down here and you can't escape her forever. And she chased you far longer than she chased me." At this, Nico's face, if possible, paled. "See you around Nico, and one last favour: Don't tell anyone that I'm still alive and around. I'd love to see their reactions." Percy said, giving Nico a last pat on the back before crushing the pearl in his fist.

"You got it. I'd like to see their reactions too." Was the last thing Percy heard as he felt himself being teleported away. Percy reappeared right outside of the hunters camp. Percy stretched and took a quick look at the sky, expecting it to be very late and probably get yelled at by Artemis. To his surprise, the sun hadn't even reached its peak yet. Or perhaps he was reading it wrong. Ah well, might as well just go and find Artemis. He followed his sense and found Artemis teaching Tracy to shoot a bow. She was doing admirably well for a first time ever shooter. Tracy hadn't nailed a bull's eye so far, but she hit pretty close to it and the other huntresses were gathered around, occasionally giving small tips. Even when Tracy missed, she laughed it off with good humour. Then she drew back and held it there for a long time, with Artemis gently nudging her feet and hands into a certain position. She nodded and Tracy fired, scoring a direct bull's eye. Tracy and the other huntresses cheered while Artemis smiled, giving Tracy a pat on her shoulder.

"Congratulations Tracy. I wish I could shoot like that." Percy said, grinning cheerfully as he stepped into the clearing.

"Hello Percy!" Tracy said cheerfully, walking over and giving Percy a hug, to which he returned cautiously, seeing the hunters glaring at him. Artemis merely nodded.

"You're back early. I expected you to be back well past lunchtime." Artemis said.

"Early? Well, I can't read the sky very well, but I thought I spent a lot of time in the Underworld." Percy replied, giving Tracy a gentle push back towards Artemis.

"Time varies between realms, dear boy. It's not even twelve o'clock here. And thank you for your help, I can finally sleep in peace." Came Aphrodite's voice. She walked into the clearing, wearing no make-up, normal jeans and a clingy white blouse. "So, think I look good now?" Aphrodite asked, arching her hips to the side.

Percy snorted. "Acting like a model doesn't make you look any better than normal. And what are you doing here _again?_ " Percy asked exasperatedly.

"I merely came to thank you for your services and to take my ring back." Aphrodite said in a throaty voice.

"B.S. You could've easily taken the ring back without seeing me personally. Now can you please just _leave me alone?_ " Percy growled, yanking the ring off his finger and tossing it to Aphrodite.

"Well, the other reason is because I need to personally teleport Thalia here, since with your mistresses magic borders, it'd make it riskier to teleport without me being at the destination." Aphrodite pouted. She wave her hand and a pink cloud appeared with a eminently satisfied Thalia stepping out of it. "See you!" Aphrodite called before disappearing herself.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I wonder how Ares puts up with her…" Percy muttered under his breath. "So Thalia, how did it go?"

Thalia grinned. She had a chain in one hand and was twisting it around her hand. "Great. I think I'm beginning to love these chains. Let's just say that I've made a record of how many boys have been sent to the infirmary due to ah, too much energy." Thalia said, giving Percy her evil eye look while hooking her chain back on.

Percy shuddered in spite of himself. "That's…good to hear. So I trust Jason is well?"

Thalia smirked. "Yeah. Not too bad. Let's just say that Jason will have a bit of trouble if he drinks too much water."

Percy winced. "He's your brother, how can you be that mean to him?"

"Exactly. He's my brother, that's why I do it. It's for his own good. Now shut up Percy, before I literally whip your ass." Thalia growled, her hand reaching towards her many chains.

Percy rolled his eyes but he let the subject drop. "So what now my lady?"

"I need to finish teaching Tracy in several other things, and it's quite a while until lunch. Why don't you go and practice on the training dummies? I can assure you that even the normal dummies are harder than the ones you campers used at Camp Half Blood." Artemis said.

Percy did his special bow. "I shall and thank you, my lady." Percy said. Percy walked over to where he knew the hunters kept their training dummies and found several of them already put outside. It'd be fun to see how good their dummies were.

An hour later, piles of shredded canvas, wood chips and straw stuffing was lying all around Percy after he had refined his skills. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his stamina was much better than it was before, but was rather disappointed in the dummies. Sure, the wood was denser than the ones at camp, but they were still no match for automatons. To stop himself from completely destroying _all_ of the hunters dummies, he decided to improve his chain fighting skills. He rummaged around the bin that contained the dummy packets, packets that were very tiny and yet could magically hold 10 dummies in each packet. Most likely gifts from Hephaestus. He rummaged deeper and found bright red packets that looked deadlier than the normal packets. Percy reached down, picked one up and turned to the fighting arena before pulling the tab. There was a bright flash of light and he distinctly heard the clang of metal on metal.

When the light cleared, 5 metal automatons stood in front of him, several holding twin knives and others holding short swords. Percy analyzed them carefully as his body instantly sank into a battle stance, his hands naturally drawing both Riptides out. The automatons seemed to be shiny versions of a human, the legs, arms, head, neck, the entire body looked like a solid metal version of a human. Percy narrowed his eyes, knowing that these automatons were even deadlier than the ones the Amazons had. He was right. The automatons moved forward at a respectable speed, and Percy jerked his swords up to block, then calmly counter-attacked, swiping a automatons head clean off and thrusting another straight through its metal chest. The last three leapt at him, and easily defeated them with simple counter-attacks and sidesteps.

 _Maybe they aren't so deadly after all. Just faster, but not quite as strong. Or maybe I'm getting better. I hope it's the latter._ Seeing it was so easy, Percy decided to train his chain skills on the automatons. At least they moved and could attack semi-intelligently. He reached in and pulled out another red packet, yanking the tab and causing another five automatons to appear. He quickly unhooked a medium chain and held it between his hands like a garrote. As the first automaton leapt forward, swing its sword down in a downward swing, Percy's foot shot up, kicking the automaton's hand with enough force to knock the sword out of its hand. At the same time, he swung the chain around the automaton's neck, with his left hand he caught the other end of the chain, tightened it and swung his arms upward, literally picking the automaton up and swinging it 180 degrees, twisting his body as he did so so that the automaton smashed into the ground in front of Percy with his back now turned to the rest of the automatons. Before any of the automatons could react, Percy unhooked a long chain on his pants and swung it around, entangling themselves around the automatons legs. Percy gave a yank and all automatons crashed to the ground.

As the automatons were still on the ground, their legs tangled up, Percy gave another snap of the chain, causing a automaton to fly into the air. Quick as thought, Percy pulled out Riptide and stabbed his sword clean through the automaton. The automaton fell to the ground with a large hole in its chest. Percy easily defeated the rest of the automatons in a similar fashion: tangling them up with his chains, and finishing them off with his sword. Percy grinned as he stood over the ruins of the automaton. He had found a new fighting style. Besides dual-wielding swords, he could also dual-wield a sword and chain. _Damn, that's sweet._ Then Percy paused, remembering what Aphrodite had said when she had given the Hunters their chains. She had said they were fireproof. Percy stared at the chain in his left hand and it burst into flames like a flaming whip. _This is going to be fun…_

Three hours later, a heavily sweating Percy was standing over tons of molten celestial bronze as he faced the last 30 automatons, the ground smoking and burnt black where his swords and chain had touched the ground. His sword and chains both dripped flames, which hissed like acid when it dripped onto the ground. Percy capped Riptide and unhooked a second chain from his pants and set it on fire before rushing the automatons, swinging the chains in smooth and deadly arcs, causing fiery trails to fly around him. Metal limbs flailed and fell as the intense flames melted through the rather poor quality celestial bronze that had been used to build the automatons. When the automatons came within sword distance, Percy dropped both of his chains and pulled out both Riptides in a flash, performing the 360 and easily cutting through the rest of the automatons. Just for the fun of it, he did a flying leap, thrusting his sword straight through the last automatons neck in midair before twisting his sword, decapitating it.

Physically tired though he was, emotionally he felt great. He had learned a completely new fighting style, and had improved his skills greatly with an even wider range of weapons available at his disposal. Percy sighed as he saw just how badly scarred the training arena was. The thick smell of melted metal hung in the air, and large chunks of the ground was very slippery due to the fact that the metal had cooled on the ground. Artemis would kill him if she saw this mess, probably putting it all down to his disgusting man traits, so he quickly bent down and began picking up the pieces of metal and putting them into a pile. Little did he know that he was actually being watched by Artemis and her hunters.

Artemis and her hunters were sitting in the treetops, watching Percy training against the metal automatons at Artemis's urging. As Percy fought against the automatons, Artemis herself was forced to admit that she was impressed with his combat skills, and she knew that her hunters were impressed by it too, though they hid it well. She noticed that he seemed to have two different personalities and also noticed how much his personalities had changed. On the battlefield, he was once a good fighter, but a bit too soft-hearted at times. Now he was a brutal, merciless but swift and quick killing machine. When he was off the battlefield however, he was a cheerful, happy-go-lucky and kind guy. Most of the time. Even though his mood could change in the blink of an eye. She had seen him happy, sad, angry, she had seen him furious, heartbroken, and she had seen him do foolish and yet heroic things. She would have continued thinking but Tracy interrupted her.

"My Lady, I think he's done fighting, and while I would really love to learn how to fight like that, I think I speak for all us when I say I'm getting a bit hungry." Tracy said softly. All of her hunters instantly nodded agreement.

Artemis quickly took a look at the sky and realized it was a bit past their usual lunch time. She gave them all a smile, "Well, you girls go get ready and I"ll ask our cook to hurry up then, shall I?" Artemis said as she leapt down from her tree to land right behind Percy. Percy turned around calmly.

"I take it that you and your hunters are hungry, my lady?" Percy asked, tossing the last chunk of molten metal onto the very large pile that Percy had stacked up.

Artemis frowned at him. "How did you know?"

Percy laughed. "Well, why else would you come and get me?"

Artemis held back a blush as she realized with a slight twinge of shame that almost every time she called on Percy, it was because she had more work for him to do. She struggled to find something to counter it. "Well, maybe it was because I was wondering where you were." Artemis said hastily.

Percy laughed again. "That's an excuse, and a bad one too my lady. You knew perfectly well where I was, you've been watching me fight the automatons for a while, haven't you? And speaking of automatons, what am I supposed to do about this pile of scrap metal?"

This time, Artemis did blush. "How did you know I was watching you? And about the automatons, well, here." Artemis said, snapping her fingers. A silver light engulfed the pile of melted bronze and it disappeared. "I sent it to Hephaestus; he'll have some use for it. Probably make more automatons for us, considering how many you destroyed."Artemis said in reply to Percy's questioning look.

Percy nodded. "Well, remember that I have a sense in my head where I can always track you? I keep part of my mind open to that at all times, and I sensed that you weren't at the archery field after the first couple hours." Percy said smugly.

Artemis grumbled, not used to not having the last word in a conversation. "Whatever. Just get some lunch ready for us. And STALKER!" Artemis snapped, slapping Percy across the face before walking off with a huff.

Percy stared after Artemis with a look of wonder on his face as he rubbed his cheek. He began to realize that he _enjoyed_ pissing Artemis off, her face looked just so cute when it was flushed and so breathtaking when her eyes glowed a deep silver. Percy mentally slapped himself again. He really had to stop thinking about Artemis. As he walked towards the dining area, he stumbled upon three huntresses who were feeding a group of wild stags. Percy froze when he recognized them as the trio. Diana turned around and gave Percy a devilish smile. _Uh oh…_ Diana whistled, and instantly the group of stags that were peacefully eating bits of food from the huntresses hands came charging at him at speeds Percy thought impossible for a animal. Percy turned and bolted, swiftly changing into his liquid form and shooting into the woods. After a bit of distance, Percy shot himself up a tree and reformed, taking deep breathes and massaging his aching muscles. Just when he was relaxing a bit to come down from the tree, something landed on his face, clawing, spitting, snarling and scratching like a monster from Tartarus. Percy crashed onto the forest floor as he reached up and yanked the monster away. His eyes widened when he saw it was a squirrel. _A squirrel?_ Percy thought incredulously. He sent a bolt of flame at the squirrel, causing it to scamper with a squeak.

Percy got up slowly, his face burning. Who knew squirrels could be that aggressive? Percy reached the dining area to find Artemis and her hunters already waiting there. Artemis looked up and opened her mouth to lecture him about keeping people waiting but stopped when she saw Percy's scratched up face and his messy hair that had twigs and leaves in it. She burst into laughter.

"Tsk tsk. Is it really that hard to walk here without tripping over?" Artemis asked after taking several deep breaths to control herself.

Percy's mouth tightened as he briefly considered ratting on the Hunters but decided against it, since he wanted to _try_ to get on their good side.

"Mother Nature hates me. I don't know whether it's because Gaea lost and she's getting revenge on me, but do you know that squirrels are _extremely_ territorial and stags charge like a buffalo on fire?" Percy groaned.

Artemis gave another snort of laughter. "Of course! That's called The Wild, Percy. Of course I do wonder why your clothes are unscathed."

Percy looked down and indeed saw that his clothes were perfectly fine, without a single scratch. "Whatever. Probably some Aphrodite charm. Let's just get on with the lunch so you can torture me some more alright?" Percy grumbled, throwing a glare at Diana, who returned it with a innocent smile.

Artemis smiled again. "That's the spirit. A large bowl of chicken corn chowder and a small sized French baguette should do it Perseus."

Percy bowed his head and snapped his fingers. It seemed to be getting easier and easier for him to summon basic home food like this. The instant Artemis started eating, he instantly dug into his soup, very hungry after his intense training and workout session.

As Artemis ate, she thought back to what she had seen from Percy's fight against her automatons. The metal "dummies" had been her strongest ones, and only the stronger and more skilled of her hunters could take them on. Even Thalia, her best fighter, could take on no more than 15 of the automatons on a good day, using a combination of her lightning powers, bow, spear and her hunting knives. Percy had cut through them with ease, and she knew he could do far more damage had he fought using only his dual-blades. Artemis decided that she would get Percy to teach her hunters in sword fighting and other methods of fighting, especially using the chains, since Percy seemed quite skilled with them. She tapped the side of her bowl to get their attention. Instantly, everyone quieted down and turned to her.

"Listen girls, I know you won't like this, but I've decided that when Percy is taking a break from my archery lessons, he should instruct you in close-combat fighting. Primarily fighting with swords and your newest weapon, the chains." Artemis said. She looked at all of them, using a stern voice. "Do you all understand?"

Artemis could see most of her hunters hated the idea. But they obeyed her as usual. They murmured their agreement while throwing death glares at Percy.

"Perseus, I expect you to teach them well." Artemis said, staring straight into Percy's eyes.

Percy bowed his head. "As you wish. When shall we start?" Percy asking, pushing his empty bowl aside.

"Now." Artemis said, standing up. "I must go to Olympus to ask Hephaestus for more automatons, but I am _ordering_ you to stay here and train my hunters. You understand?"

Percy also stood up. "As you wish, my lady."

"Good." Artemis said. She disappeared in a flash of light.

"Well, let's get started then shall we?" Thalia said, grinning as she swung a chain around her hand. Percy noticed that all the hunters were staring at him as if they were wolves and he was a very fat deer. _I have a bad feeling about this…_ Percy thought glumly.

An hour later, after several "accidents", Percy managed to teach the hunters a few moves and change their footwork a bit despite the fact that they were obviously not listening. Little did he know that they were planning their own large prank to let Percy know that they did not welcome him as a teacher.

"Hey Thalia, Tracy, since you two seem to be doing so much better than us, care to go and get a few more dummies over?" Christy asked.

"Sure, no problem." Thalia said. "C'mon Tracy, might as well show you how the dummies work."

"Alright, now there's one thing I would like you girls to learn is an extremely useful disarming technique." Percy said, completely unsuspecting of what was in store for him.

"Sure. But can I ask you a question first Perseus?" Phoebe asked.

"Of course Phoebe. Ask away." Percy said politely.

"How many arrows can you deflect with your sword without warning?" Phoebe asked innocently.

"Well, it depends on who's firing, where-"

"NOW!" Phoebe yelled. Instantly, all thirteen hunters fired a stream of arrows at Percy, who reacted with impressive speed, cutting down many arrows. However, thirteen expert archers shooting arrows ten times faster than a machine gun was impossible for anyone to block forever, and eventually Percy was overwhelmed. The instant the arrows struck his clothes and skin, they burst into tight strings, wrapping themselves around Percy in a tight grip. The hunters cheered as Percy was completely wrapped up in a oversized cocoon and began rolling him to the nearby lake and dumping him in it. Percy gave a low growl as he began burning his way through. _I don't know how much more of this I can take…_

And so it went. For the next month, the hunters played increasingly large "pranks" on Percy, while Percy struggled to keep up with his chores, _tried_ to teach the hunters, and keep up with Artemis's archery lessons. He failed the archery lessons miserably. Surprisingly, Artemis had not yelled or lost her patience with Percy, and she seemed to be warming up to him but she hadn't exactly done anything to stop her hunter's pranks. Then again, Artemis never saw the large pranks that the hunters played on Percy, she only caught the small ones, such as tricking Percy to fall into a pit that had been covered by grass, or a trip wire since the hunters were so good at doing the large pranks behind Artemis's back. Tracy did her best to warn Percy, such as coughing, whistling, or making signs, but Percy being Percy, didn't really pick them up. Such as the time when the hunters slingshotted Percy out of the park.

He had been walking back from doing laundry, and just as he was about to walk between two very large trees, Tracy had frantically waved and coughed loudly to stop him from continuing. Unfortunately, Percy's good heart made him walk forward, since Percy's first reaction was Tracy had some minor problem. Then he caught the warning look in Tracy's eyes, but then it was too late. A super-sized sling dropped on top of him, tightly wrapping his arms to his body as several hunters ahead pulled on strings, which in turn pulled Percy into the sling. Then they angled the sling down and let go, shooting him high into the air. Percy managed to burn his way through the tight bonds, but didn't quite fully managed to spread his wings completely before he crashed to earth, breaking several ribs. To add insult to his injury, he had crash landed in a large pile of deer poo. After washing and healing himself in a river, he strongly suspected the hunters had somehow calculated it. Percy managed to keep his cool and stop himself from flooding the entire camp, but it had been getting harder and harder to do. Eventually, Percy snapped.

After a horrible archery lesson which had Artemis wondering on new ways to teach Percy how to shoot, Percy decided to take a break and have a walk in the wilderness in an attempt to clear his mind. It was late afternoon, and there wasn't too much to do other than teaching the hunters, which he did not look forward to. Surprisingly, Artemis agreed.

"Are you sure you want to go alone? You seem to be getting in trouble quite often nowadays." Artemis offered.

While Percy would've loved to have a walk alone with Artemis, he knew the hunters would hate him even more for spending more quality time with their beloved mistress, so he declined.

"No thanks, I'm pretty sure I can handle anything out there. You know, scorch their butts or send them off with a bit of water, you know?" Percy said, walking off before Artemis could say anymore on that subject.

Boy was Percy wrong when he said he could handle himself out there.

Barely had he spent five minutes tramping through the forest, ducking beneath branches and trying to figure out which was north and which way was south, when the animals began attacking him. Hundreds of different types of birds flew in, pecking, scratching, clawing at Percy, even emptying their bowels on top of him. Percy was now impossibly grateful for to Aphrodite for her auto repairing clothes, if it weren't for them, he'd be wearing nothing but rags. Percy gave a growl and batted another bird away before he felt a sting on his cheek. He slapped the mosquito away. Hell, even the bugs were attacking him! Percy set himself on fire and had deep satisfaction watching the insects burn themselves up, but he stopped when a bird fell to the ground, burnt to a charred crisp. Percy knelt down beside it.

"I'm sorry , little birdy. I didn't mean to kill you." Percy whispered.

Percy finally found a river he could follow and walked upstream, hoping for a tall hill or a cliff he could relax on. Just when he was about to get relaxed, he heard a low growl. Percy froze. That didn't sound good. Then there was huge crash and Percy was flattened on the ground, the wind knocked out of him as a massive black bear landed on top of him. Percy gave a yell as he managed to kick the bear off of him, but the bear swung its huge paw before Percy could run, catching him straight in the chest and almost breaking his ribs again as Percy collided painfully with a thick tree trunk. Percy blinked the stars out of his vision, stumbling to his feet and surveying the bear. He noticed that the bear had crazed, blood lust filled eyes. _Hades, just my luck, a rabid black bear after me._ Percy couldn't kill a major wild animal without Artemis's permission, even though he wasn't exactly on a hunt. Percy decided to run. He turned and ran, but out of nowhere was flung backwards by a huge pair of antlers.

"What the heck!" Percy yelled as a stag burst forth, lowered its head and charged straight at Percy. Percy leapt aside and collided with the black bear. The bear flipped Percy around and pinned him beneath itself, baring its teeth and completely ignoring the stag. Percy decided that the time to be careful was past and let loose a wave of his power. The bear flew backwards, snarling as it crashed through several trees while Percy transformed into liquid form and sped away at top speed, not caring where he went. He found a cave and decide to hide out in it, changing back into normal form to preserve some strength. He listened carefully for any sound of the black bear pursuing him. He heard none. Percy gave a sigh of relief and was deciding whether to continue or go back to camp when he felt several somethings land on his arm. He froze again. Percy turned his eyes into flames, which allowed him near complete night vision. And saw a row of bats on his arms. Now normally, Percy knew that bats were harmless. But after being chased and mauled by a stag and bear, Percy wasn't thinking rationally and his reverted back to his old instincts.

Percy gave a scream and flapped his arms, knocking the bats off. That was a mistake, since it caused the entire flock of bats to fly after him. Percy gave another scream and shot out of the tent, smashing through tree branches and crushing vines underneath his feet as he aimed to get away as far as he could from the flock of creepy bats. Percy finally stopped when his legs couldn't take it anymore, crumpling to his knees. Percy took in deep breathes to calm his heart down. He was bleeding from several cuts and he was dead tired. He decided that it was time to return to camp, since he was getting hungry and the sky was growing darker by the second. He stood up on wobbly legs and did his best to brush himself down. He took a step to go back to camp but stopped. _Which direction do I go to get back to camp?_ Percy wondered. _Oh right, follow your senses._

Much later, with the sky fully dark and a worried Artemis waiting for him with her group of considerably less concerned hunters, Percy finally stumbled out of the forest with many half-heal cuts and bruises all over his body after being re-chased by the bear, a group of foxes and pecked at by several flocks of birds. Percy's eyes were smoldering and he had a scowl plastered on his face. Normally, he was a rather laid-back, calm and relaxed type of guy, but he was beginning to get enough of all this nonsense. Artemis gasped when she saw the state Percy was in.

"Oh my…Percy, what did you do to yourself?" Artemis asked. Percy was rather surprised to find genuine worry in her voice.

Percy gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw muscles, not saying anything as he ran his hand through his hair, trying to walk through the hunters to get to his tent and simultaneously ignore the rude things the hunters were saying.

"I bet he got attacked and assaulted by all those animals we ordered to attack him. Men attack women, and men get attacked by animals. If only we could've caught it on tape." A hunter snickered, referring to the whole Hunt. The instant Percy heard it, he lost all self-control.

"ENOUGH!" Percy roared, a wave of fire and force exploding outwards, blowing everyone backwards. "You want to know what happened? Well, all you girls happened! I'm sick and tired of your "pranks", your cruelty and most of all your hatred for _me._ I'm fed up with all this! You don't like men, well, the same can be said for me also! I don't trust women! I would know since my girlfriend left me after _five years._ Why? Just because I was gone for five months doing the things Athena _ordered_ me to do so I could date her! You'd think someone like her could wait right? WRONG! And if you really think I was cheating, go ask Thalia. She can confirm that all I did was train with the Amazons non-stop and do that impossible quest." Percy growled harshly. The air around him pulsed with flames as silence enveloped the extremely tense atmosphere. "I'm not leaving since I have two promises holding me here. One is to Artemis and one is to Tracy. But _don't_ " Percy's voice lashed out. "Expect me to be Percy Jackson anymore. From now on, like for like."

With that ominous ending, Percy whirled around and stomped into his tent, slamming the door as he went in.

Everyone stood there, shocked. None of them except for Artemis and Thalia had expected he could be that angry. Even Artemis, who had seen Percy furious to the point where he could've blown Olympus up, was baffled by what had just happened. She turned to glare at her hunters, who bowed their heads in shame and embarrassment, knowing Artemis was going to punish them with a lecture.

"Girls. What did I say about going easier on him? I'm quite sure that ordering all the wild animals to attack him was _not_ going easy on him. _What part did I not make clear?"_ Artemis asked coldly.

"Um…"

"I'm truly ashamed of you girls. _Especially_ the ones that have been "pranking" on Percy. Percy isn't selfish or greedy, he isn't even pompous even though he has every right to be. He risked his life _three times_ to save me, the last time he saved all of you girls. This is how you repay him? And doesn't that make him worthy of your respect?" Artemis continued in the same, cold tone.

Her huntresses flinched. Her tone was even worse than the one she used if a hunter broke her vow. "My Lady, we understand he deserves better, but he's a-"

"A man. Not true. He's not just any normal man, he's a _real_ man and a true hero. But he's far more different than any other man or hero to have ever lived. I now realize my mistake in not telling you earlier that the only reason Percy joined the Hunt is because his lover left him, left him for architecture in Greece and a mortal who could give it to her." Artemis said.

Her hunters gasped at this knowledge since no one outside of Camp Half-Blood and Olympus knew. "Who was she? He just mentioned her now didn't he?" Elizabeth asked.

Artemis nodded. "She was a daughter of Athena, and a brilliant one too. Her name was Annabeth Chase, the Official Architect of Olympus. Also your Lieutenant's best friend." Artemis said, motioning to Thalia. Everyone looked at her.

"Not anymore." Thalia spat. "Percy's my best and closest friend."

Artemis continued. "He joined the Hunt because he came to Olympus and asked Zeus to send him to the Underworld. We all thought it was a terrible idea, Zeus decided to put Percy here as a Guardian. This place was supposed to be a place where Percy could heal, a place to make life worth living. I fully understand why his trust in women must have fallen. And while I admit that I did not treat him so nicely at first, your escapades and various other tortures have not made matters any better. And also, if Zeus sees that this does not work, he may replace Percy with a different man." The hunters shuddered as deep guilt and shame washed over each of their faces in heavy torrents, it was obvious in their faces and eyes. "Now, I'm going to go talk to him so that he'll remain as Percy Jackson and not some cold-blooded Guardian. If he agrees, will you girls promise to treat him like how you treat each other?"

"We promise, Lady Artemis." They all said simultaneously. Artemis saw that they meant it and gave them a small smile before going off into the direction where Percy had went.

Artemis walked up to Percy's door and decided that a serious talk was more important than some useless courtesies. She walked right in and noticed Percy lying on his bed, his right hand seemingly clenched over something. Percy looked up and noticed her, his emotionless face turning into a grimace.

"What now, my lady?" Percy grumbled.

"I'm here to talk." Artemis replied, standing over him.

"I'm not up for it." He said, turning around so that I could no longer see his face.

"That's being disrespectful, Perseus."

"I don't care. I'm back to square one. Nothing to lose right?" Percy grumbled.

Artemis sighed. This was going to take a long time. "You have to. I'm not leaving your tent until we've talked this thoroughly and we've come to a decision."

Percy turned over and looked her right in the eye, his eyes a pale green. "Fine." He grumbled.

"Come on, let's go outside, this place reeks of man smells." Artemis said jokingly. Wrong thing to say at the wrong time.

Percy arched an eyebrow. "Well, that's your problem, you wanted to talk to me, not the other way around. So you'll have to bear with it." Percy said simply.

Artemis gritted her teeth. "Fine. If you want the hard way, then so be it." She clapped her hands and teleported them both outside to a nearby lake. Percy looked around in mild surprise before leaning against a tree.

"Alright then, fire away." Percy said.

"Percy, look, I apologize for the actions of the Hunt and myself. I honestly admit that I actually looked forward to using you as a slave, but that just doesn't seem right after all you've been through. The huntresses have also realized this and they've promised to treat you like their own. Will you come back?" Artemis asked.

"My Lady, you have no idea how devilish and evil they are. I bet they've got horns growing under their hair, and taking into account of what they've done, forgiving is going to take a long time. Being chased and mauled by a super-sized stag and a rabid black bear in one day isn't fun. Neither is being chased by flocks of bats and pecked, slashed at, and pooped on by various birds. Or getting slingshotted out of this park…" Percy grumbled.

Ordinarily, Artemis would have blown Percy up for talking about her hunters like that, but she really had absolutely no idea what they had done to Percy, and therefore couldn't blame him.

"Percy, they've been raised to hate men with a passion. And for good reason too, they just haven't ever met someone like you. Nor do they know you as well as I do. Accepting you takes longer for them along with some explaining Perseus. I'm positive they approve of you, and if they dare try anything else like what just happened, I'll take care of it personally." Artemis said in a pleading tone. Then a thought hit her. To get him back to his old personality, she had to hit the right spots. And she knew where. "Besides, if you don't come back as Perseus Jackson, I won't ever get the chance to whip you up in hand to hand combat" she added slyly.

"What have I got to lose if I don't come back as Percy Jackson? And what the hell do you mean you can beat me in hand to hand combat?" Percy said, perking up a bit.

"You'll lose a family. You'll become depressed. Trust me, I know the Hunters, when they're nice, they're really nice. And besides, you may be a great fighter with weapons, but I bet I can thrash you easily in fist to fist fighting." Artemis said, continuing to poke his pride.

Percy stood up straight. "Are you saying that I'm weaker than you? I'd take you on in a brawl, but I can't hit girls."

Artemis snorted. "That's just a lame excuse you can use to weasel yourself out of when you lose against me."

"'When I lose against you'? Excuse me, but are you implying that I don't stand a chance?" Percy said, the old light coming back into his eyes.

 _Excellent, gotta hit the metal when it's still red hot. Besides, I can't resist this chance to beat him up._ Artemis thought. "Of course. In unarmed combat, I can beat you anywhere, anytime, blindfolded, hands tied behind my back, I'd beat the crap out of you."

"That's some big talk. Can you prove it?" Percy challenged, standing straight, his old personality clearly back.

Artemis smirked. "Of course I can, you have any doubts?"

"Yeah. I doubt you can even make me fall, let alone beat-"Artemis interrupted Percy as she crouched down and swung her legs, sweeping Percy right off his feet. Percy crashed to the ground with a thud.

"You were saying, Jackson?" Artemis asked smugly.

"That was cheating! I wasn't even ready!"

Artemis wanted to point out that in real life, you were hardly ever ready but decided to can it. "You ready now?"

"Yeah, why?"

Artemis jumped into a nearby tree before landing on top of Percy's broad shoulders, smashing her thumb onto a nerve at the base of his neck. Crushing it caused temporary paralysis. Artemis leapt off as Percy tumbled into the lake, frozen. Artemis laughed.

"Not so tough now, are you, hmm? That's what you get when you underestimate the Goddess of the Moon and Hunt, Artemis." She said proudly.

Suddenly, without warning, two large hands shot out of the water and snatched her in, her head below the water before she could even give a scream. Panic instantly overwhelmed Artemis until she heard a deep chuckling sound. Artemis swam deeper and tackled Percy, punching every inch she could hit. When Artemis felt her breath growing short, she surfaced, drawing a deep breath, ready to go back down and beat Percy up. Instead, she got tackled by Percy from behind, causing her to scream as she went deep down into the lake. The scream had cost her a lot of air, so she kicked Percy once before surfacing again, climbing the shore and standing there, dripping wet. Percy surfaced next to her, a big smirk on his face.

"I can't believe you were actually _afraid_ when I pulled you down there. That was hilarious." Percy said, snickering as he calmly shot himself out the lake next to her.

"I'll get revenge on you eventually. Beating the cockiness out of you isn't enough. And make me dry, it may be early spring, but I'm cold!" Artemis said, shivering.

"No problem my lady." Percy said, touching her shoulder and instantly drying her up. Artemis involuntarily shivered again at his touch.

"Still cold?" Percy asked, concern in his voice.

"Um.. Yeah, a bit. Can you go and get a blanket or something?" Artemis said quickly, not wanting to let him know the real reason why she shivered.

"No need. Here." Percy said, extending his wings and wrapping a large wing around her. Artemis was instantly cocooned in a blanket of heat and comfort. Artemis froze. This wasn't what she was expecting, it was bringing her closer to Perseus. In an attempt to get out of his wing without seeming rude, she hooked her foot around his legs and tripped him over. Unfortunately, while Percy fell, she fell with him since his wing was wrapped so tightly around her. Artemis fell onto Percy's chest and she hastily rolled herself off, her face heating up. She found herself in a surprisingly comfortable position, with his left wing wrapped around her like a blanket and her face against his left arm, she was very comfortable and didn't want to move at all.

"What was that for?" Percy asked, careful not to move an inch in case he disturbed Artemis.

"Nothing." Artemis murmured. "Percy, will you come back and join my hunt? P-Please?" Artemis whispered, deciding that this situation deserved a 'please' even though it felt like acid in her mouth.

Percy turned to his left to find a mass of lush auburn hair next to him as Artemis pressed her face against his arm. He felt himself blush.

"Well, if the hunters really do feel bad, then I'll accept their apology. Forgive and forget, right?" Percy said softly.

The instant Percy said that, she felt an immense amount of weight lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you Perseus." Unconsciously, she snuggled up closer to Percy and wrapped his wing tighter around her body, staring at the stars. "You know, if Zoe were alive, she would've accepted you." Artemis said, staring at her favorite constellation, The Hunter.

She felt Percy turn his head to look up at the night sky. "You think?"

Artemis nodded. "Of the constellations you know, do you know the history behind each of them?"

"Um, well, there's Hercules, the stupid, pompous, stuck-up, greedy and rude dude. He used to be my favourite constellation cause he had even worse luck than I did. The Big Bear Thing-"

"It's called Ursa Major, Perseus, not 'The Big Bear Thing'" Artemis said, smiling.

"Alright Moon Beam, Ursa Major. There's Ursa Minor. Your boyfriend, Orion-OOMPH!"

The last part came as Artemis shot straight up and slammed her elbow into Percy's stomach. "Who said he was my _boyfriend?"_ Artemis snarled.

"Well, isn't that why you put him into the sky? So you could stare at him for eternity?" Percy gasped out, clutching his stomach.

Artemis slapped his face, hard. "You stupid mortals! You never know the truth!" For some reason, it burned her that Percy thought she still liked Orion.

"So it's not true? You never loved him?" Percy asked, inwardly flinching at how hopeful he sounded.

Artemis paused. She had no idea why she was telling him, but she was. "I thought I did. That's why I put him into the stars, because I was guilty that I had killed him myself. But I realized many things after I killed him, and among them was that I only loved him for his skills, because he was a excellent hunter and archer. A male who was my match in the things I loved the most. I never liked him for who he was, since he had too many flaws." She flopped down into Percy's wing again and unconsciously wrapped it around herself. "And I learned a lot more after he was dead, like the fact he raped a maiden and tried to seduce my huntresses." Artemis clenched her teeth. "That's why there's a scorpion up there. I put it there to scare him, he never had the guts to take on a scorpion. Especially a pit-scorpion. Don't tell anyone, but I'm actually glad that Apollo killed him. He was just a distraction. He was actually a large reason why I hated men even more. You're the first completely different man that I've met." _And completely likeable_ Artemis thought, but she pushed the thought away.

Percy knew he shouldn't be feeling this, but he felt immensely glad and happy that Artemis never really like Orion all that much and deeply touched that Artemis thought he was a good guy. "Don't worry. I won't say anything. But how do you know that I'm a completely good guy?" Percy asked teasingly.

"Well, tell me one bad thing that you've done in your life."

"Um, killed Amphitrite, and killed Tracy's relatives. Before, I could never kill."

"That's different. What you did was for the greater good, not something bad for absolutely no reason." Artemis said.

"Thank you my lady. That eases my conscience knowing that you approve." Percy said. Artemis chuckled.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. "Percy." Artemis mumbled.

"Yes my lady?"

"Sing me a song." Artemis murmured, smiling at his reaction.

"What? My Lady, I'm not a singer. Why don't you ask Apollo to get you a music player or something?" Percy said nervously. "Besides, the music I know is pop stuff."

"But you listen to Don McLean."

"How'd you know?" Percy asked, bewildered.

"Thalia told me. Especially a song called 'Vincent'. Quite appropriate right now, don't you think? Sing it for me will you?" Artemis said, giving him a nudge with her face.

"Um… alright my lady. But don't blame me if it sounds bad." Percy said, clearing his throat.

 _Starry, starry night_

 _Paint your palette blue and gray_

 _Look out on a summer's day_

 _With eyes that know the darkness in my soul_

 _Shadows on the hills…._

Artemis was surprised that Percy had a soothing voice. With the combination of his voice, the warmth from his wings, the firmness from his muscles in his arms, and her fight with Percy underwater, Artemis fell asleep.

Percy finally finished the song. Nervously, he asked Artemis for her opinion. "Um, how was it my lady? My Lady?" Percy asked. Percy turned his head and found Artemis with her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling in synch with her deep and even breathing. Percy couldn't help but stare at Artemis, her thick and lush hair, perfect lips and flawless lips, looking so peaceful and beautiful in her sleep. As Percy looked at her, he felt something stir deep inside him.

Percy froze as he realized with a deep shock that the feeling was love. He was in love with Artemis. He, Perseus Jackson, a mere partly immortal demigod had fallen deeply in love with Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, the maiden goddess. Emphasis on _maiden._ Percy cursed in his mind. He couldn't love her, it'd would bring disaster to both of them. Despite that thought, it was all Percy could do to not kiss her right there and then. He decided to try and wake her up, since he was pretty sure that no matter how sorry the hunters were, they'd rip him apart if they saw Artemis asleep in his left wing.

"My Lady, um, are you alright?" Percy asked, tapping her shoulder. Artemis gave a moan and slapped his hand away. As much as Percy would love to have Artemis stay in his wings, he knew he really had to wake her up. He jerked his wing a bit as he bent over her, shaking her by her shoulder. Artemis gave a growl and her fist came up, punching him square on the nose. Percy fell backwards, clutching his face and giving a low groan.

"Seriously my lady, if waking you up is like that, then I'm not going to wake you up then." Percy groaned.

"Then don't wake me up! I'm comfortable, so let me sleep!" Artemis growled, wrapping Percy's wing tighter around herself and snuggling her face into Percy's arm.

"Look my lady, as much as I love having you sleep on my wing, I don't think this is exactly appropriate is it?" Percy said, blindly groping for a chance to not get too connected to Artemis.

Artemis's eyes flew open and she blushed furiously as she realized that she had fallen asleep in Percy's wing, her face squashed against his left arm. Then she noticed Percy's bleeding nose.

"Percy, what happened to your nose?" Artemis said, her hand reaching forward.

Percy gently pushed her hand aside, his face a burning red. "Well, I was trying to wake you up and you um, didn't want to be woken…" Percy muttered, trailing off at the end.

Artemis blushed again as she realized that she was still lying in Percy's wing. She hastily sat up, even though she really didn't want to leave and pulled Percy up, not looking at his face.

"Um, let's go and tell the hunters that you've decided to come back if they apologize alright?" Artemis murmured, walking ahead.

"As you wish, my lady." Percy said, also blushing.

The instant they arrived at the camp, the hunters sprang out eagerly, almost frantically as they crowded around Percy, begging him to come back as Perseus Jackson.

"Everyone, back!" Artemis barked, glad to have something to distract herself from thinking about her short nap with Percy. The hunters instantly stepped back, silent.

"Percy has agreed to return as long as you girls promise to treat him like your own and, of course, an apology." Artemis said. Each and every one of her hunters apologized, even Thalia.

"I'm sorry Percy that I didn't try to stop the pranks and that I played a pretty major part in it." Thalia murmured. "Please accept my and our apologies."

"So Percy, do you accept? Will you come back to my hunt as Perseus Jackson?" Artemis asked.

Percy looked straight into her eyes and saw the pleading in them.

Percy sighed and nodded. "Alright, I accept. Just one thing." Percy said.

Her hunters instantly asked him what it was. Percy grinned.

"I need help on archery." Percy said.

Her huntresses immediately agreed. "Of course! We'll be glad to help!"

"Alright everyone, it's getting late, so let's eat dinner? Percy? Your choice." Artemis announced, blushing slightly as she turned to Percy.

Percy gave her a crooked smile. "Of course." He led the hunters to the dinner table and clapped his hands, summoning some of his favorite food. Barbecue. Everyone instantly dug in and the hunters willingly sat next to Percy, though Tracy claimed her seat next to Percy as "hers". When everyone finished eating, and everyone was wandering around talking, she was about to tell everyone to go to bed but was interrupted by Phoebe.

"My Lady, before we go to sleep, do we have your permission to do something?" Phoebe asked.

Artemis cocked her head. She had absolutely no idea what it was but she agreed. The hunters all grouped together and Phoebe walked to where Percy was standing. Percy looked a little wary as Phoebe walked towards him. Then Phoebe did something that surprised Percy and Artemis. She hugged Percy.

"Welcome to the Hunt, brother." Phoebe said, pulling out of the hug.

"Um, thank you Phoebe, that was nice and...unexpected." Percy mumbled, rather embarrassed. Artemis almost burst from pride as she watched her hunters swallowing their hatred for men, each going up to Percy and embracing him, welcoming him to the hunt as a brother. Usually it was 'sister' but they now accepted Percy as a brother. It was the highest compliment they could ever give. Tracy literally threw herself onto Percy, giving him a big hug.

"I'm glad you're back Percy. And since you welcomed me in, I don't know what I'm supposed to say." Tracy mumbled, clinging onto Percy's waist tightly.

"Thanks Tracy and that's alright, you don't have to say anything." Percy said, giving Tracy a pat on her head. Tracy hung on a little longer before letting go, allowing Thalia to have her turn.

"Welcome to the Hunt, cousin and brother." Thalia said, grinning cheerfully and slapping Percy's back as she gave him a big, tight hug. "Congratulations on getting to join the most prestigious group on Earth. Love ya Perce." Thalia said, pulling back, her face slightly red.

Percy grinned. "Love you too Thals. Since when-" Percy was interrupted by a loud gasping sound. Everyone whirled towards the direction of the sound and saw a mass of blond hair fading from a disappearing Iris Message.

"Damn bitch, you stalker!" Thalia yelled, pointing The Finger sign at the now-gone Iris Message. The hunters laughed.

"Whoa Thals, calm down, chill." Percy said.

"Humph. Who cares. And what were you saying?" Thalia asked.

"Huh? Oh, I was asking since when did you become so emotional." Percy replied.

Thalia grinned and gave Percy a light punch on the stomach. "Since forever, Seaweed Brain."

Percy rolled his eyes while Artemis smiled. Percy and Thalia's love/hate relationship brother/sister relationship strongly reminded her of her own sibling relationship with Apollo. The difference being that Percy had more guts than Apollo. The smile promptly disappeared, however, when she heard what Thalia was saying.

"It's your turn now my lady!" Thalia said cheerfully, standing in front of the other huntresses.

"What? My turn to do what?" Artemis asked, bemused.

"To welcome Percy to the hunt of course! You have to give him a hug just like what we did!" Phoebe said cheekily. The other huntresses were quick to agree. Both Percy and Artemis were staring at the hunters in shock. Just hours ago, they were anti-Percy, and now they were completely fine with Percy and Artemis hugging each other. They both looked at each other and swallowed nervously, both turning red.

"Um…" Artemis mumbled.

"I, ah, er, don't think it's really necessary, seeing as my lady already welcomed me into the hunt." Percy said hastily. Artemis began nodding her head like a bobble-head doll.

"Oooo, what did you guys do?" Christy asked. Artemis stared at Christy, dumbfounded. Then she gathered her wits.

"Alright, bed time! Now!" Artemis yelled, snapping her fingers and teleporting her hunters into their respective tents. Artemis turned to the very embarrassed Percy.

"We won't speak of what just happened and what happened a hour or so ago." Artemis said, turning red at the memory.

"Yeah, we'll just forget about it alright?"

"Yup. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Percy turned around, his face bright red as he walked back to his tent. Before he could get in and try to fall asleep, Artemis called him again.

"And Percy?" Artemis asked.

Percy turned to find Artemis looking at him in a embarrassed way. "Yes my lady?"

"Thank you. Again." Artemis mumbled before slamming her tent door shut.

Percy shook his head, completely bemused as he finally fell into the first deep sleep he'd had for a long time.

 _Meanwhile…_


	12. Chapter 12

**Annabeth**

 _Meanwhile, in Greece…_

Annabeth Chase leaned against a pillar of the Parthenon, wiping little beads of sweat off her forehead. She sighed. It had been a hectic day, what with her talking-no, _arguing_ -with various other architects who thought they knew more architecture than she did. Annabeth gave a snort. She was beginning to regret signing up with this bunch of rowdy idiots. Being the only female architect, they believed themselves more superior and constantly tried to hit on her, despite the fact that she was in a relationship with Josh Frost. Annabeth grimaced. Josh Frost. She didn't exactly want to think about him, since every time she thought about him, she felt a deep emptiness and a hollowness inside her. She quickly recomposed her face as she heard footsteps coming her way.

"Hey love, how're you feeling?" Josh asked, walking over to stand next to her.

 _What do you think? I'm tired and I just feel bad. Go away._ Annabeth thought but she quickly plastered a half-smile on her face as she answered. "Oh, I'm fine dear, thanks for asking. You?" Annabeth said as sweetly as she could, which she doubted sounded sweet.

Josh smiled. "I'm fine sweetheart." He said, leaning in to give her a kiss. Annabeth responded half-heartedly. Josh pulled back, concern in his eyes.

"Sweetie, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired, and I have a slight headache from arguing with those blithering idiots." Annabeth lied smoothly. Well, mostly lied. Those architects really were stupid idiots.

Josh grinned again. A grin that Annabeth had once found attractive but had lost its luster soon. "Well, you know how work goes slowly here. What do you say to a late afternoon at the beach?"

Annabeth's stomach lurched at the mention of the beach but she concealed it. "Sure, I'll meet you at our hotel in a hour and a half alright? There are just a couple more things I want to see and check." Annabeth said, really hoping that Josh would go away now.

"Ok sweetheart, I'll see you later then." Josh said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and walking off.

Annabeth clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She _hated_ those cheesy endearments. The instant he walked off, the feeling of deep emptiness, guilt and hollowness filled her. Annabeth knew exactly what was causing them as she wandered around the perimeter of the Parthenon aimlessly; her mind slipping back to what had led her to her current position, more than six months ago…

 _Whoosh! Clang! Clonk! CRASH!_ A dummy fell to the ground, cut clean in two, its cloth in shreds and its straw stuffing basically gone.

"Percy! Why are you training so hard? You've been destroying the dummies so fast that we can barely make enough for the other kids! And you've been training like crazy for the past three months! What for? You think the Titans are going to rise again?" Annabeth asked jokingly as she added in the last part, watching Percy rip and slash apart the dummies with his dual blades. But Annabeth was serious too, Percy had been training so hard, you would've thought that he was going to fight Gaea herself in a day.

Percy paused and wiped his sweaty brow, capping both of his Riptides. "Hey Annabeth, how's it going?" He asked in weary but cheerful tone.

Annabeth arched an eyebrow. "How's it going? You're training so hard, I'm surprised most of the campers can actually sleep! And I'm worrying my mind off wondering why you're training! WHY? The war's over Percy, why train so hard?" Annabeth yelled.

Percy shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't want to get out of practice…"

"That's a load of Minotaur dung Seaweed Brain! You know it and I know it. Besides, that's what you've been telling me the last three months. Can't we just spend some time together?" Annabeth asked, pleading a bit.

Percy gave her a smile, the smile that she loved. "C'mon Wise Girl, you know I'm always there for you. When was the last time I ever left you?"

Annabeth melted at his smile and the mention of his nickname for her. "Well, you were gone for eight months. And I still don't know whether you hooked up with anyone while you were there." Annabeth said, glaring at Percy. She felt that the eight months apart had strained their relationship.

Percy pouted. "Annabeth, you _know_ I'd never cheat or leave you willingly. Can't you just drop the subject?"

Annabeth's eyes glinted. "I'll drop the subject only if you stop training and go to sleep. It's getting late anyways."

Percy sighed. Annabeth had ways of getting people to do what she wanted. "Fine. So, you'll drop the subject?"

"You're not out of the fighting arena yet Seaweed Brain. And I have to make sure that you really are asleep before I let you go." Annabeth said, smirking.

Percy smiled and walked over, slinging a arm around Annabeth's shoulder. "Well, I suppose I have the honour of having an escort when I got to sleep then." Percy said, grinning cheerfully as he steered them to his cabin.

Annabeth smiled as she leaned into Percy's shoulder. He was taller than she was now, and she found it immensely comfortable. _This is what life is supposed to be._ Annabeth thought dreamily. Suddenly, they stopped.

"Why did you stop?" Annabeth asked, rather angrily.

"We're at my cabin. Unless you want to sleep with me, then I think we need to separate for now." Percy said, his mouth smiling, but his eyes showed a slight bit of worry before being replaced by his usual cheerfulness.

"Alright…well then good night Percy." Annabeth said as she slipped out from underneath Percy's arm, disappointed that Percy hadn't wanted to give her a kiss before going to bed, which then turned to anger as it fueled her suspicions that he had gotten tired of her.

"Hey… don't I get a kiss before I go to sleep? Isn't that what I always got before?" Percy asked, sounding hurt.

Annabeth had to stop herself from turning around and rushing back into his arms as she instantly became happy again. Reminding herself that she was a daughter of Athena, she decided to show that she was always superior.

"Well, I'm kind of afraid of giving you a kiss before you go to sleep, since you disappeared the last time, remember?" Annabeth

Luckily, her back was still turned, or she would've instantly caught the look of panic and worry on Percy's face. _Think for the long-term, just a little bit away from Annabeth, and if I make it, I'll have Athena's blessing._ Percy thought desperately, composing his face into a mask. He decided to play along with Annabeth's little game.

"Fine. If you don't want to, then don't. How do I know whether you moved on either?" Percy said, injecting a note of hurt into his voice. Bad idea.

Annabeth whirled around, anger flashing through her stormy grey eyes. "Well, I wasn't the one that disappeared for _eight freaking months!_ I was worried sick about where you were! Everyone here knows about it! And I can't just exactly go up to any Roman guy and ask them 'Oh, how was Percy? Did he hang out with anyone?' since they all seem to dislike you. Most them at any rate. And since it sounds like you really don't want a kiss, then FINE! Go to sleep!" Annabeth yelled, stomping away back to her cabin, a tear running down her face.

Percy stared after her, dumbfounded and slightly frustrated. _What did I do this time? I was just trying to play along with her joke. She didn't act like this before…_ Percy thought glumly. Percy flinched when he looked at his watch. He had to go meet Athena and two mysterious people who would be accompanying him. Deciding quickly, Percy went into his cabin and hastily scrawled a note, telling Annabeth that he'd always come back and he'd never leave her. He tossed it onto his bed, trying not to imagine Annabeth's anger when she found out that he was gone. With that, he quietly slipped out of his cabin and with a last look at the Athena cabin, he left camp, not knowing that it'd be five months before he would return.

Annabeth woke up the next morning feeling bad. She really shouldn't have yelled at Percy, and yet she couldn't help it. The feelings of jealously were strong, and were shrouded in suspicion. _I really have to control my emotions._ Annabeth thought glumly as she quickly showered and put on her orange t shirt and jeans. _Or else that'll end my relationship with Percy._ In all honesty though, Annabeth wanted a break. A short break, where she could spend maybe a month out in the mortal world, relaxing, and just stay away from her hectic and chaotic demigod life. She wanted a normal, mortal life. At least for a little bit. Then she could go back and hang out with Percy. Annabeth was briefly cheered up by this until she thought of how to tell him that she wanted to take a break, but didn't exactly want to breakup with him.

Annabeth led her cabin to the dining pavilion and her gaze instantly flicked to the Poseidon table. Which was empty. She froze for a instant before deciding that Percy probably slept late, after all, his training had been vigorous and she would've slept late too after all that. However, when it was time to do their daily offering to the gods, she walked straight up to Piper, who was touching shoulders with Jason. Annabeth had to admit that she was glad that Percy had remembered her, since she doubted she would've been as nice as Reyna against someone who had "stolen" her boyfriend during his absence. Reyna had, after some difficulty, accepted Jason and Piper's relationship, and remained Jason's best friend. Leo had been ecstatic, since he was Jason's best friend too, but Reyna made it painfully clear that she was not interested in Leo. After several trips to the infirmary, Leo had finally gotten the message and remained on somewhat neutral terms with Reyna.

"Piper, Jason, have you seen Percy yet?" Annabeth asked.

"Um, no I haven't, why?"

"He's not at his table." Annabeth said, her voice flat as Piper scraped a portion of her food into the braziers.

Piper froze and turned around, looking at the Poseidon table while the majority of her food fell into the brazier. Jason turned too and his eyes widened. He and Percy had bonded well, close together like brothers.

"That's not good. Are you sure he's actually gone or maybe he's just tired?" Jason said. "Oi, Piper, watch your plate or you won't have anything to eat."

Piper gave a muffled yelp as she righted her plate, having given about 90% of her food to Aphrodite.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking…" Annabeth muttered as she scraped off a large portion of her breakfast into the braziers. _To Athena, mom, please help me with my emotions and with Percy._

"If he doesn't show up after breakfast is over, we'll go and knock on his cabin door. Break it down if I we have to." Piper said.

Annabeth nodded tersely. "Don't tell anyone yet ok? I don't want everyone to start swarming around the Poseidon cabin."

Jason and Piper nodded. "But what about Frank and Hazel? Those three were extremely close."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "No. Not yet. Besides, by the time we reach them and tell them, breakfast will be over."

"Alright. Who wants to bet that I'll finish first and be at his cabin first?" Jason asked cheekily. Annabeth and Piper merely rolled their eyes and went off to their respective tables. Annabeth sat down and began scarfing down her food, ignoring her half-siblings comments and questions on why she was eating so fast. While she was eating, she had the feeling that someone was watching her. She raised her head and looked around, then saw Chiron lower his head and begin to calmly eat his food. Annabeth narrowed her eyes and analyzed Chiron. He seemed calm, but Annabeth could sense that he seemed nervous and his face had slight worry lines in them. That just made Annabeth even more nervous and eager to finish her food. Swallowing a Fruit Loop whole, she stood up and made a dash towards the Poseidon cabin.

To her surprise, she found Jason and Piper standing in front of the cabin, looking rather impatient as they waited for her.

"Wow Annabeth, you are _slow."_ Piper said teasingly.

Annabeth brushed it off. "Is he in there? Did you try knocking or shocking him out of bed?"

Jason shook his head. "We decided to wait for you, since you know, you're his girlfriend."

Annabeth nodded her thanks and brushed past Jason and Piper, taking a breath before knocking on the door.

"Percy? Are you in there? It's past breakfast time!" Annabeth said, becoming more and more nervous as nothing happened. "Percy? _Percy?_ PERSEUS JACKSON!" Annabeth yelled, pounding on the door. Annabeth turned around and met Jason and Piper's gaze, worry evident in their eyes.

"Let's just knock down the door alright? Because if you yell any louder, I'm pretty sure the whole camp will find out real soon." Jason suggested. Annabeth nodded and pulled her foot back, ready to kick it down.

"Whoa, Annabeth, what are you doing? Shouldn't you use your shoulder?" Jason asked, looking at her as if she were crazy.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and shot her foot out in a perfect line. The door flew off its hinges with a crash, and she ran in without a second's thought, Jason muttering about not wanting to get kicked by Annabeth as he and Piper followed through. All three froze when they saw the empty bed. Annabeth's eyes fell on a envelope lying on Percy's bed and she snatched it up, ripping it open, completely ignoring Jason and Piper.

 _Dear Wise Girl,_

"Ummm, we'll just go alright? And maybe tell Chiron?" Piper said uncertainly.

Annabeth waved them off with a distracted wave of her hand before returning her attention to Percy's letter.

 _Dear Wise Girl,_

 _You're probably worried by the time you read this letter. Possibly angry too. Please don't. I have some business that will take an unknown amount of time, but if I make it through this, then I will finally be able to have a peaceful and blessed life. I promise you that I will always return, and I will never leave you._

 _Love,_

 _Seaweed Brain_

Annabeth was shocked as she finished the letter. Then she felt furious. She felt a fury she had never felt before, and it took all of her self-control to not rip the letter apart and destroy Percy's cabin. How dare he leave her? And from the letter, it looked as if Percy had left willingly! Shaking with rage, she forced herself to walk out of the cabin slowly and did the best she could to keep her face neutral. She suspected she failed spectacularly at it since Chiron, Hazel, Frank, Jason, Piper, Leo and the twins Travis and Connor, moments ago edging cautiously towards the cabin door, literally leapt backwards the instant she stepped out. All but Chiron flinched from her gaze as she glared at all of them.

"So, is it true? Percy's-"

"Missing. Yes, he's _"missing"._ Annabeth finished for Chiron, sketching quotation marks at the word 'missing'. "AGAIN! But I highly doubt it, since he left me a letter telling me that he'd "always be here and will never leave me". MY FOOT! If he'll never leave me, then what did he just do? HUH?" Annabeth yelled, not caring whether she was yelling at Chiron or a god at the moment.

"Look dear, I'm sure Percy didn't meant to-"

"Mean to what? Leave me? Again, how come he had time to write a letter then? And why does it sound like you know where he is?" Annabeth snapped. "Now just leave me alone!"

She stomped her way back to the Athena cabin, crushing Percy's letter in her fist, ignoring the stares that the campers, old and new, were giving her. She stormed into the Athena cabin, slamming the door shut so hard that the entire cabin shook. She flopped onto her bunk, and then jumped off, unable to stay still. She paced around the perimeter of the cabin, her anger only growing as she wandered around aimlessly. She began to wonder whether Percy had gotten tired of her and perhaps he had left her for someone at the Roman Camp. After all, she didn't have any solid proof that he'd been faithful, he'd certainly _appeared_ to have stayed faithful to her and his word that he hadn't hooked up with anyone else. He hadn't even sworn on the Styx!

 _You know he wouldn't cheat on you. This is just your jealous self, Annabeth._ Her inside voice scolded.

 _But then why would he leave? Why would he leave after the war is over? When we could live together forever? In peace? Why leave then?_ Annabeth argued with herself. _Besides, Calypso is free, how do I know he hasn't contacted her and found out where she was? After all, he lived there for two weeks and from what I've seen is that he loved it there. And Calypso is a great looker._

With each thought, Annabeth became angrier and angrier until she couldn't hold it back anymore. She gave a yell of anger and jealously, ripped apart Percy's letter and threw them into the trash can. _That's what I think of you, Jackson._ Annabeth thought viciously. _You and your stupidity, and the constant reminder that we have a dangerous and demigod life. Why should I be stuck with you if you're going to leave me like this all the time?_

Annabeth found herself strangely satisfied with that thought. Perhaps she'd let Percy taste his own medicine. But she highly doubted that Jason, Piper, Leo, and especially Hazel and Frank would approve. How to get rid of them? Send them to Roman Camp. And tell them to keep an eye out for Percy! She'd have to deal with Clarisse and a couple of the old campers, but she was sure they wouldn't interfere too much. And besides, if Percy doesn't come back, he can't miss what he never got right? And she could pretend to search for Percy by going to her architect school; it wasn't too late to enroll in it. Her dad would understand. Annabeth couldn't help but feel extremely satisfied and cheerful about the plan. She'd have to keep up a pretense of being angry with Percy, but she'd limit her time visiting camp as much as she could.

Much cheered, she walked out of her cabin, keeping a flat and neutral mask on her face. Barely had she left her cabin before Jason and the others crowded around her. She steeled herself to receive a slew of questions and comforts.

"Hey, um, Annabeth, well, is it alright if we go to Camp Jupiter? You know, cause I want to show Piper and Leo the secrets of the Camp and you know, if Percy shows up there or we hear of anything, maybe we could call you? Of course, if you want us to stay here, we'd understand." Jason said quickly.

Annabeth froze for just a second, this was a complete surprise and went along with her plan perfectly well! She struggled to keep her face as neutral as possible. Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, it's alright. But if you see Percy, send me a Iris Message immediately ok?" Annabeth said. _So I can beat the crap out of him._

Jason looked surprised and rather relieved. Probably because he had heard stories of how unsociable Annabeth had been when Percy had been abducted by Hera. "Yeah, definitely, no problem. Well, see you later I suppose? We'll stay there until we either see Percy or we get tired of Camp Jupiter and want to have some fun alright?"

Annabeth nodded idly and waved them off as she walked around in search of Chiron. She found him standing at the archery range, idly shooting perfect bulls-eyes, a calm look on his face even though it was obvious he was nervous and slightly worried.

"Hey Chiron, I have a request." Annabeth said, trying to keep her voice in a monotone.

"Ah hello my dear, and what is the request?" Chiron replied, not quite looking her in the eyes.

"Well, two actually. The first one is, do you have any idea where Percy would've gone? It must be really important to leave, don't you think?"

While Chiron kept his face puzzled and worried, his tail had flicked and he had shifted his feet. To many, it would've been nothing, but Annabeth had known Chiron for about 10 years. She knew that Chiron was nervous about this topic and was possibly hiding something.

"I'm afraid I don't know… even though we can safely assume he is safe, since he had time to write you a letter, yes?"

"Yeah…" Annabeth grumbled out. "But anyways, I was just wondering whether I could enroll in a mortal architect school, you know, expand my career and keep an eye out for Percy."

Chiron nodded. "I'm sure that with your excellent track record, you'd have absolutely no trouble. From what I've heard, you are almost done remodeling Olympus." Chiron chuckled. "If only the mortals knew that, you'd be more famous than their so called celebrities."

Annabeth laughed too, but couldn't help but notice that Chiron seemed more relaxed when they weren't talking about Percy, which only increased her suspicions and anger. "I really like remodeling Olympus. But I always wanted to work on the Parthenon. I'm kind of hoping to get a chance to help rebuild bits of the Parthenon."

Chiron smiled. "A Daughter of Athena never gives up right? I'll tell Argus to prepare the van. And really, I'm sure that they'll accept you without trouble. Hades, maybe you'll be teaching them about architecture. You can go ahead and call your father, I'm sure just this one time wouldn't hurt."

Annabeth nodded her thanks and while Chiron went in to talk to Argus, she quickly called her father. Her dad didn't pick up so she left a short message to tell him to be careful when calling her since she was going to be out in the mortal world instead of behind Camp borders. She had just finished when Chiron came galloping out, a large duffel bag already in his hand.

"The van is ready my dear, and here is your duffel bag. I've packed everything inside it, since I already know what you would want in there." Chiron said, smiling lightly.

"Thanks Chiron. I'll try to drop by whenever I have time alright?" Annabeth said, slinging the duffel bag over her shoulder and walking towards the borders.

"Good bye my dear. And good luck! I'll you if I have any information about Percy!" Chiron said, waving.

Annabeth waved and crossed the borders, climbing into the van and letting Argus drive her to her school of choice, a school that accepted anyone interested in architecture from international countries. When they arrived, she calmly climbed out and waved goodbye to Argus, who tipped a imaginary hat and gave her a thumbs up sign before driving off.

As Chiron had predicted, she had absolutely no trouble enrolling into the architecture school, despite the fact that the school year had already started. Since it was a Sunday, and her dad had put a deposit in this school a while back, she was shown to her own dorm room. Seeing as she had quite a bit of free time, she decided to Iris Message her mother to ask her whether she knew where Percy was. Taking out her special water bottle that caused a mist of water to come out, she stood in front of the windows and sprayed the air until a rainbow formed. Taking a drachma out of her pocket, she tossed it into the rainbow.

 _"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering and show my Lady Athena, probably at Olympus."_

The rainbow shimmered to show her mother, this time with dark brown hair, staring at something intently. Annabeth was curious until she heard the clash of metal against metal and ultimately decided it was her mother playing around with different strategies.

"Hey Mom." She said, slightly nervous.

Athena whirled around and her eyes widened for a split-second when she saw Annabeth. "Annabeth! Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. Percy's gone. Do you know where he is or whether you can locate him? Please mom?" Annabeth said.

Athena shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry my daughter, but in this matter I cannot say anything. The only thing I can say is that you will find out eventually. In a few months perhaps."

"But-but does that mean you know what he's doing? Will the outcome be happy? Do you approve?" Annabeth asked frantically. As much as she hated Percy at the moment, she still wanted to be with him if he was coming back soon.

Athena kept her face neutral, although that was probably a mistake. Her neutral face didn't look very positive. "You'll know soon. And it is best if you do not contact him. You'll only be blocked." Athena said, before cutting off the connection.

Annabeth gave a growl of frustration. Even her mother wouldn't tell her anything! And that usually meant bad news, and her warning that she would know soon and not to contact him did not bode well with Annabeth. Annabeth gave a huff before stretching and facing out her window, looking towards the sunset. If Percy wanted to leave her, then she'd leave him too. She was a Daughter of Athena, not a daughter of Aphrodite or something, she'd never stand such indignity. Annabeth gave a slight smile towards the setting sun.

 _New life, here I come._ Annabeth thought contentedly.

Over the next several months, Annabeth had one of the best experiences in her life. For a couple weeks, she attempted to keep up her 'worried for Percy' façade, but ultimately gave up on it since it took too much effort. School was wonderful, there hadn't been a single monster attack, and she relished the attention she was getting at school and at Camp. Now that she didn't need to worry about Percy, she could wear whatever she wanted and flirt with whoever she wanted. She was immensely popular at school thanks to her superior intelligence and her looks, and had gotten the attention of several professional architects. She also had a boyfriend. A new one.

Annabeth had met Josh Frost on her first day at the school, and had instantly taken a liking to him. Although he was the only son of a very rich businessman, he was quiet, soft-spoken, polite, rather shy, very intelligent, and quite a looker with his blue eyes and soft dark brown hair. A complete opposite of Percy, whose mood swings, at times, drove Annabeth crazy and his green eyes were a bit more piercing than she sometimes like. Josh was also one of the very few who did not actively try to ask her out. As the days rolled by, Annabeth found herself seeking his company more and more, and practically forgot about Camp. Besides, she couldn't stand the looks that the old campers were giving her when she casually flirted with a couple fo the new male campers. While Annabeth and Josh hadn't established anything between them, Annabeth always thought of him as her boyfriend and was rather hoping that he would ask her out formally.

Annabeth was walking down a hallway, flushed with the praise and success of yet another top-notch exam, impressing the teacher so well that they began talking of sending her out to help architects around the world, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Josh. Struggling to hold back a blush, she gave him a questioning look.

"Hey Annabeth, um, well, first of all, I'd like to say good job." Josh said, looking flustered and his face a bit red.

Annabeth gave him her sweetest smile. "Thank you Josh. Means a lot coming from you."

Josh blushed even harder. "Er yeah, well, um, what do you say to a night out at Lombardi's Pizza? I have a couple things to ask you."

Annabeth held back a squeal and gave him an even bigger smile. "I'd love to! What time?"

"How about 6 o'clock? Meet at the entrance?"

"Sure! I'll see you then!"

"Alright! Bye for now!"

The instant Josh was out of sight, Annabeth practically ran into her dorm and gave a squeal, not caring whether she sounded like a Aphrodite child or not. Josh was asking her out! Ok, she wasn't completely positive that he was asking her out, but why else would he invite her to dinner at Lombardi's Pizza? Annabeth jumped around her dorm in excitement for a little bit more before calming down enough to think on what she should wear. Annabeth also realized with a start that this was her first date. Her first formal date, seeing as Percy had never taken her out on a real, formal date. That made her angry again, but she pushed it out of her mind so as not to mess up with tonight's _real_ date.

Annabeth walked over to her wardrobe and flung it open. Even after several months away from Camp, she still marveled at Chiron's ability to pack so many things into such a tight space. She still hadn't found the need to buy a single piece of clothing, other than sexier lingerie. She began taking out hangars of clothing and began tossing this aside, putting that on one side and continuously analyzed each style, too conservative here, too revealing for this one, too informal and all that. After spending a long time rummaging through her clothing, she finally decided on wearing a white and blue lacy blouse with a V neck that wasn't too low as to be outright slutty but definitely low enough to be sexy. For her pants, she chose a form fitting pair of skinny jeans with a line of sparkling glitter running down the sides of her jeans. Completing the outfit was a light jacket from Jones New York and her two owl earrings that she had gotten from her dad.

Quickly popping into the bathroom to put on a bit of blush, some glossy pink lipstic, and some light mascara, she looked at herself in the mirror and had to admit that she thought she looked great. Her cleavage was plenty ample; her form fitting jeans outlined her athletic legs and her glossy blonde hair was smooth and butter soft. _Excellent. Let's see what he'll see to this._ Annabeth thought with satisfaction. She looked at her watch and gave a start. It was already five minutes to six o'clock. Thank the gods that it wasn't very far from her dorm to the entrance. Just a elevator ride down and ten feet to the right and she'd be at the entrance. It took Annabeth only 2 minutes to slip on her high heels, lock her door, and get down the elevator to the entrance. To her surprise, Josh was already there, a looking a little flustered and nervous but otherwise he looked relatively calm and handsome in his deep blue, open-collared dress shirt and tuxedo pants.

"Hey, I hope I didn't keep you waiting for long." Annabeth said cheerfully.

Josh smiled. "It's alright. I just got down here like, um, 45 seconds ago." He said, taking a quick look at his watch. Annabeth was impressed that he was so accurate, always precise.

"Then let's get going shall we?" Josh nodded, holding the door open for her before following. To Annabeth's great surprise, there was a limousine outside. An attendant bowed and held the door open for her. She turned around with surprise, looking at Josh. He nodded to her to go in. _Well, this is new._ Annabeth thought as she slipped into the limo with elegant grace, sinking into the butter-soft leather seats with a contented smile. Josh slipped in a second later. The moment the door closed, Annabeth turned to Josh.

"Wow, I didn't know you had a limo!" Annabeth whispered excitedly as the attendant came to the front and slipped into the driver's seat.

"Lombardi's Pizza? Is that correct Sir?" The attendant/driver asked Josh.

Josh nodded. "Lombardi's Pizza it is. Thank you."

The attendant tipped his head and started the engine with a barely noticeable shudder and smoothly accelerated off, the engine purring along quietly.

"Well, my dad is a rich guy… and I have a good connection with the attendants." Josh said, answering Annabeth's question.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Annabeth asked, fluttering her eyelashes just for the sake of it. Besides, Josh looked cute when his face was pink.

Josh blushed. "Can-can we talk about it after we're done with our dinner? Cause it's a thing that I would like to ask…preferably with no one around."

Annabeth was cheered up by this fact. "Sure! No problem."

"We're almost at Lombardi's, Sir. Would you like me to wait for you sir?" The attendant asked.

Josh gave a kind smile and shook his head. "No thank you, it's alright, you can go home and relax."

"Most kind of you, sir."

A minute later, they had reached Lombardi's. The attendant quickly got out of his seat and hurried to open the door for Josh. Josh climbed out and gave a nod of thanks before reaching out a hand to help Annabeth out. Annabeth took it, although she had no need of it before thanking Josh as sweetly as she could. She also thanked the attendant, who blushed a deep red and bowed before hurrying back to the limo.

The moment they entered the restaurant, another attendant hurried up to them. "Mr. Frost sir, your table is right this way."

"They know your table?" Annabeth asked him.

"I reserved it beforehand."

"How'd you know I'd accept then?"

"Because I know you." Josh said cheekily, giving her a full smile, showing off his white teeth.

Their table was at the very back, obviously a VIP place. The chairs were made of premium rosewood and covered in plush leather. The lighting was very soft and had a romantic touch to it.

"So, what would you like to order?" Josh asked, handing a menu to her.

"Um…" Annabeth quickly scanned the menu at speed, automatically analyzing and storing the data into her head, a nice ability to being a Athena child. "The Margherita _Pizza looks good. Shall we try that then?"_

 _Josh grinned. "My sentiments exactly." He quickly raised a hand and hailed a waiter to their table. "Excuse me, but we'd like to order a Margherita Pizza with some red wine as our drinks."_

 _"Very good ma'am and sir, it shall arrive shortly." The waiter said, giving them a short bow as he quickly hurried off._

 _"Um, is wine alright with you? I forgot, I usually drink some wine with my food and I'm not sure whether-"_

 _"It's alright. Always good to learn new things right?" Annabeth said, flaunting her cleavage a bit by bending down in her seat to "adjust" her socks._

 _"Um right, it's always good to learn new things." Josh managed to say, blushing red as he looked at Annabeth's breasts._

 _Score!_ _Annabeth thought. She held back a smirk and put her elbow on the table and leaned her cheek on the palm of her hand, increasing the view down her shirt. "So tell me more about yourself. I'd love to know more about you." She said, giving him a small smile._

 _"Ummm, I love architecture, love Greek mythology, I'm an environmentalist, a fan of the Yankees, and I'm pretty bad with computers? But I'm great at anything on paper." Josh said slightly awkwardly, since he was still gawking at Annabeth's cleavage. He wrenched his gaze away from it, and forced himself to stare into Annabeth's slightly unsettling gray eyes. How could she have such amazing gray eyes? "How about you?"_

 _Annabeth smiled. This was going to be fun. They continued the small talk, talking about personal interests and what they liked and didn't like, their wishes, what they hoped for, etc, until their pizza arrived, the instant it came, Annabeth nearly drooled, it smelled so good. Both Annabeth and Josh attacked their pizza, and for a couple minutes there was nothing but the occasional chuckle when the cheese stretched so long that they had to stand up to eat it without breaking the cheese string._

 _To Annabeth's great surprise, they managed to finish the entire pizza between them, despite the fact that they had ordered a medium sized pizza that didn't look or feel so medium. Annabeth leaned back with a contented sigh, sipping her surprisingly good tasting red wine. Josh was leaning backwards too with a satisfied look, slowly drinking his wine._

 _"Tell me, I'm just curious, but have you ever, um, had a boyfriend before?" Josh asked, almost timidly._

 _Annabeth struggled to keep her face composed as she felt a wave of emotions hit her. Emotions from guilt to happiness, but the two most prevailing were jealously and anger at Percy. After all, had Percy ever done something like this? She desperately wanted to be with someone, to be loved, so she chose her next words carefully._

 _"I had one I suppose. It didn't quite work out though. He left and I never heard from him again." Annabeth lied, keeping her face and voice controlled._

 _"Oh. Did you guys ever do anything…serious?" Josh asked in a tight voice. Was it Annabeth's imagination or could she detect a jealous look in Josh's eyes?_

 _"No. Other than a kiss, we never went any deeper than that." Annabeth said. The last part at least, was true._

A look of deep relief passed through Josh's face. "Oh ok. And in case you're going to ask, I've liked a couple of girls, but never as much as yo-" Josh stopped suddenly, turning red. "Um, if you're done, let's go shall we? You know, take a walk, there's something I want to ask you."

"Sure, no problem. So let's split the bill then? 50/50?"

Josh grinned. "Too late. Already paid when I made the reservation."

"What? You can't do that! At least let me-"

"No I am not. Besides, I invited you. And also, you don't even know how much it cost."

"Then I'll just hand you a bunch. Or sneak it into your pants or something."

Josh rolled his eyes. "You do that, and I won't ask you the questions. I know you want to know what they are."

That shut Annabeth up. Josh gave a triumphant grin and led Annabeth to the front, holding the door open for her and giving the attendant at the front desk a small tip. Josh hooked his arm through Annabeth's and guided her into a smaller street that had very few people on it, if at all. They walked in silence for some time as Josh struggled on how to best phrase his questions to her without seeming abrupt. He finally gathered up his courage.

"Look Annabeth, um, well, I applied to a company to see whether I could have a chance working on the Parthenon in Greece, and they accepted. You know, working slowly on the Parthenon with some small side jobs. I'm allowed to bring another person with me, another architect or just a friend, and uh, I was wondering whether you'd like to um, come with me?" Josh asked nervously, stopping and taking a quick glance at Annabeth.

Annabeth was shocked. Her biggest dream, to work on her mother's Parthenon, was here. Right here, in front of her. And to actually work on other smaller jobs! For a moment, she was speechless and Josh looked worried, but then she found her voice.

"Of course Josh! I'd love to! I always wanted to work on the Parthenon! It's like, my biggest dream ever!" Annabeth said excitedly. "Thank you so much!" Then she frowned. "What about school though?"

Josh had a deeply relieved look on his face. "You're welcome. And don't worry about school, you're so good at architecture, I'm sure they'll let you off for as long as you want."

Annabeth gave Josh a tight hug. "Thank you so much Josh. When do we leave?"

"Um we leave tomorrow at about 6 p.m. And another thing Annabeth…" Josh paused, gathering his courage.

"Yes?" Annabeth asked, but instead of a wary voice, it was an expectant voice.

"I-I love you. Willyoubemygirlfriend? Um, will you be my girlfriend?" Josh managed to stutter out.

Annabeth smiled. "To be honest, I've been waiting for you to ask me that. And the answer is yes." She said. Without thinking, she kissed him. For a second, Josh was completely surprised and was stiff but soon returned the kiss with ten times the passion. Annabeth felt a slight twinge of guilt before pushing it out of her mind. Percy had left her. And she wasn't going to mope over him.

The next day, Annabeth, full of energy, hailed a taxi to Camp Half Blood, although the taxi driver didn't know it was there. Ignoring the driver's question and tossing him the money, she practically flew past the camp borders, in search of Chiron to tell him the good news. She found him teaching archery to a young group of campers.

"Chiron! I've got some good news!" Annabeth half-yelled.

Chiron turned around in surprise and instantly dropped his bow to give Annabeth a hug. "Annabeth dear, it's been so long. What's the news? Did you find Percy?"

"No, I still haven't heard from Percy. But I scored a contract to go to Ancient Greece to work on the Parthenon!" She said excitedly.

For an instant, just an instant, pure panic and worry flashed through Chiron's eyes before excitement filled them. "Annabeth dear, that's wonderful! Congratulations! When do you leave?"

"I leave today at 6 p.m. I just wanted to notify you."

Chiron barely managed to hide his unease. "I suppose I will see you sometime in the future? As a world-famous architect? And Annabeth, I recommend that you leave a letter for Percy, telling him what happened, just in case he comes back alright?"

Annabeth almost gave a growl of frustration. Who cared about Percy? But ultimately, she decided to write a letter. "Alright Chiron, I'll just go and write a letter, tell my siblings on what happened and to hand it to him _if_ he comes back." She went off before Chiron could say another word.

 _This is going to be bad. This is going to be really, really bad._ Chiron thought desperately.

Annabeth, obviously oblivious to what Chiron was thinking, happily walked into her mother's cabin and greeted her half-siblings. They looked at her in shock.

"What? Did I just come from Mars?" Annabeth asked jokingly.

"Um no, it's just that you're happy now. Before, you were fragile and testy. Really testy." Malcolm replied. She was surprised to see him there. He was supposed to be at college. _Probably has his own reasons being here_ Annabeth though dismissively.

"I'm happy because I managed to score a contract to go to the Parthenon and actually helped remodel it!" Annabeth said cheerfully, taking pleasure at her half-siblings' shock and slight envy.

'Congratulations!' and 'Wow, you're so lucky! Good luck!' were heard throughout the cabin. They were all happy to know that the little Annabeth they'd grown up with had finally become an adult and had found a career.

"What about Percy? Any news on him?" Malcolm asked. Despite his mother's disapproval, he found Percy completely likeable and a perfect fit for Annabeth.

Annabeth barely managed to control her facial expression and anger. Why did everyone care so much about Percy? He left her!

"That's why I'm here to write him a letter. Just in case he decides to come back." She replied a little stiffly. "Any paper and a pen around here?"

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "This is the _Athena_ cabin, surely you haven't forgotten that this cabin _always_ has paper and pencil all over the place." Malcolm said, only half teasing however. He handed her a sheet of paper and a ballpoint pen.

Annabeth quickly scrawled out a letter, deciding not to be completely honest with him so just in case her relationship with Josh didn't work, she'd still have the chance to get back to Percy. She also decided to add the three years into it, despite the fact she had no idea how long this contract was. She re-read it when she was done. Excellent, no way could he figure out that she had gotten a new boyfriend.

"Thanks Malcolm. _If_ you see Percy, hand this to him alright? Everyone, it's been great seeing you again, but I got to go and catch my plane. See you all later!" Annabeth said, handing the letter to Malcolm and rushing out the Athena door. Unknown to Annabeth, Malcolm and her other half-siblings were taking a peek at her letter. And being children of Athena, they knew what she meant in her letter.

"Oh shit. This is not good. In fact, this is bad. _Really_ bad." Malcolm whispered, a feeling of dread passing through his body. All the other Athena children nodded in silent agreement.

Annabeth, oblivious to everything, had been dropped off at the airport by Argus. The instant she stepped out, she saw Josh with his luggage and her duffel bag, everything on a cart, ready to check-in.

"Hey sweetheart, you ready to go to Greece?" Josh asked, lightly brushing his lips over Annabeth's.

"Yeah… I'm ready for a new life." Annabeth said, walking into the airport hand in hand with Josh, confident that she had made the right choice.

 _That was the_ WORST _decision I've ever made._ Annabeth thought, pulling herself out of her thoughts of the past. She looked at her watch and realized with a shock that she had spent about half an hour wandering about the perimeter of the Parthenon, thinking about her recent past. She had better get going or she'd be late with her appointment with Josh. She could take a taxi back to the hotel, but it was a relatively short distance and she could use the walk to clear her mind. She succeeded in keeping her mind clear and at peace until she saw the newspaper.

On the cover, even after so many months of the Giant-Gaea War, the media was still in a crazy frenzy of the destruction in Rome and especially Greece. The cover showed a huge crater near Mount Olympus, with many scientists claiming it was an meteorite that somehow made it past the mortal satellites, or another freak storm or some other probable disaster. But Annabeth knew better. Percy had made the crater in his rage; he had released so much power that he nearly killed himself.

Seeing the cover filled Annabeth with pain, regret and emptiness. She knew she couldn't deny it any more. She missed Percy Jackson. She missed his laughter, his smile, his sparkling green eyes, she missed his mood swings, she missed his unpredictability, and she just overall missed him so badly that she felt as if some part of her had disappeared. Josh was a good friend, but that was it, just a friend. After a few months with him, Annabeth had found the faults of Josh. He liked using cheesy endearments, which drove Annabeth insane, he was somewhat of a pervert, always goggling at breasts like a typical man, and he was just so…so _bland._

 _Yeah, that's the right word. He's bland._ Annabeth thought. Josh was bland, while Percy was filled with changes. Josh was too predictable, and just rather boring. He wasn't even that good of a kisser. Annabeth desperately wanted to get back to Camp, even if Percy hadn't returned, she just wanted to be surrounded by her old life. Her old friends. The fun in Capture the Flag. Hades, even Mr. D But Annabeth knew that in order to return back to camp, she'd have to break Josh's heart, and give up her position in working on the Parthenon. Did she love Percy enough to cope with the consequences?

Thinking back, she had been really stupid. She had let anger and jealously overcome her. She had focused on Percy's faults, and compared them to Josh's pros. Which didn't seem so pro anymore. And she had been inexcusably unreasonable; Percy wasn't a rich guy, he had spent almost all of his current life fighting monsters, protecting demigods, protecting and serving the gods, protecting _her._ He never had time, and whenever he _did_ have time, monsters always came to fuck it up.

She had also been in a state of denial. She had just wanted a normal life, a normal life without monsters, without _anything_ that reminded her of her crazy demigod life. She should've known better, but she had let it consume her and literally dumped Percy. She realized with a shock that she was doing what Percy had been doing, before the Battle of Manhattan. Percy had hung out with Rachel, because she was a mortal, she was a anchor to the mortal world, a reminder that the normal world was still out there.

 _But Percy didn't leave you for her. He stayed for you, and just remained friends with Rachel._ Annabeth thought, guilt washing over her in waves. Speaking of Rachel, she'd have to call her, even if she was still in school.

The question came up again. Did she love Percy enough to leave everything here? Everything? Yes. She missed and loved Percy too much to part with him. Annabeth decided to listen to what Josh wanted to tell her, and then she'd have to break the news to him. She winced at the thought of it, but kept her core as hard as steel. She'd do it. She was a Daughter of Athena, and while she made mistakes, she'd correct them. Even if Percy didn't want anything to do with her, she'd still rather be friends with him than stay with Josh, leaving Percy behind with a ill-written letter. She fervently hoped that Percy hadn't returned to camp, since it'd make her life a bit easier.

Annabeth noticed with a start that she'd somehow walked all the way back to the hotel, despite the fact she wasn't even thinking about where she wanted to go. She checked her watch, half an hour to go until her meeting with Josh. No problem, she'd just go to her room and wait.

To her surprise, Josh was already there, pacing around the room, muttering to himself. With a tremendous amount of effort, even more than when she held the sky, she put a smile on her face and a cheerful note in her voice. "Hey Josh, looks like we're both early. Want to go now?"

Josh's face was red. "Um sure, yeah, why not? I don't think we need to go in swimsuits do we?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Fine by me. We can just go like this then. No need to get our nice clothes all sandy and wet." On the inside, she was grateful. She would prefer to reveal her body to Percy instead. Entire body if she had to. She also couldn't help but make a snide remark inside her head about Josh. _Probably cause you don't have any muscles to speak of._

Josh nodded and took a deep breath. "Let's go then shall we?"

Annabeth nodded and followed Josh through the door. They stayed in silence while they reached the beach that was behind their hotel. After walking around a bit, hand in hand, Josh finally broke the silence when they reached a more secluded spot.

"Look Annabeth, um, I love you a lot." Josh paused. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box, kneeling in front of her. "Will you marry me?"

Annabeth stared in shock. This was a complication. A seriously bad complication. How could she possibly refuse now? It'd be unforgiveable. She struggled to find an excuse.

"Josh I-"She stopped when she saw the biggest wave she'd _ever_ see in her life form behind Josh. Josh, sensing her shock, looked up and saw her staring behind him. Then he saw the wave and pure fear shot through him.

"Run!" Josh yelled, running off before stopping. "What are you waiting for? We have to-"

SPLAT!

A oversized owl flew overhead, conveniently emptying its bowels on Josh's face, blinding him as he choked and spluttered. The owl then dove in, using it's wickedly sharp claws to tear Josh's arms, legs, back, everywhere apart. Blood flew in all directions when the owl suddenly shot back up into the air.

 _WHAM!_

The wave hit with a tremendous smash, shaking the earth so hard that the ground cracked. Annabeth tried to fight against it, to make her way to Josh, but the waves pinned her against the ground, and water began flooding into her mouth, her nose, her eyes, down into her lungs. She choked, and realized that she was drowning. She had never feared about drowning before, since Percy was always at her side to create a air bubble, but now she was afraid. She struggled to free herself from the waters grasp, but although she was strong, the water's force was unnatural, pinning her to the ground. Just as she began to lose consciousness, she heard a screech and the water instantly receded.

Annabeth struggled to her knees, calling on her years of battle experience to ignore the weakness in her oxygen-starved muscles. She heard some strangled screaming and looked up. What she saw shocked her.

Josh, bloody from the owl's attack, was literally a wretched mess. His arms were gone, and he was being dragged into the water by two sharks with unusually sharp and intelligent eyes. Annabeth forced herself forward, reaching for Josh, but the sharks growled at her, their eyes glaring deep into her own. Then they disappeared with what was rest of Josh into the retreating waves. The only traces of Josh were his blood, which left an ugly red streak on the beach.

"No…" Annabeth whispered, horrified. She heard a triumphant screech and whirled around to find an owl staring at her with gray eyes that more than matched her own. Then the owl disappeared. Annabeth whirled towards the sea, and she could've sworn that she saw a tall man with black hair, glowing green eyes, a black beard and a glowing trident in his hand, staring at her with a look of harsh hatred. Then he too disappeared.

Annabeth couldn't believe it. Her mother and Poseidon had both killed Josh, with Poseidon almost drowning her in the process. It was too much to process. With her oxygen-starved brain, the recent events that happened, plus her feelings for Percy, her brain decided to shut down and rest. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was a crowd of people swarming around her.

Annabeth woke up in a warm and comfortable bed, although she felt anything but comfortable. She slowly opened her eyes to a warm light and shut them, her head hurting horribly. She gave a low groan and tried to speak, but couldn't, since her mouth felt like fur.

"She's awake! Martha, she's awake!" A man called. "Do you need water dear?"

Annabeth did her best to nod. A instant later, a wet cloth was applied to her parched lips, and the touch of water was like nectar. The wetness slowly trickled into her mouth and her throat, and she gave a low moan, sucking on the cloth to get as much water out.

"Whoa, slow down girl, I know you're thirsty, but too much and you'll choke. We wouldn't want that now, would we?" The man chuckled.

Eventually, he held a beaker of warm water, and she gulped the whole thing down. Feeling much revitalized, she slowly opened her eyes to meet a pair of eyes astonishingly similar to Josh's.

"J-Josh?" She asked hesitantly, her mind still a little fuzzy.

A look of pain crept through the man's. "I'm sorry, but I'm Andrew Frost. His father. He was my s-son." He whispered, looking away.

Annabeth was shocked for a second. His father? He was an extremely rich man and moved in high circles. "I'm sorry sir. It's just the eyes, and I thought you were him." Then, for the sake of keeping up her pretense as Josh's madly in love girlfriend, she added, "I wish he were here."

A woman entered the room. Annabeth instantly looked at her and began analyzing her. She put her around middle to upper fifties, but she wasn't sure, since her eyes were bloodshot and she had lines of pain all over her face.

"Hello Annabeth, I'm glad you're alive and awake. I'm Martha, Martha Frost, Josh's mother. And I can see why he raved so much about your eyes. They're such a amazing shade of gray." Martha managed to say without choking on her tears.

Annabeth gathered her scattered wits and attempted to be as diplomatic as possible. "It's an honour to meet you two, I always wanted to meet you people. I'm sorry that we couldn't meet under…better conditions." Annabeth said, artfully wiping her eyes and pretending to cry. Sure, she was sorry that Josh was dead, and that it had caused so much grief to his family, but she really, really wanted to get back to Camp and try to contact Percy.

"It's alright. No one could have done anything… nature had decided to spring a tidal wave and nobody could have done anything. We _are_ glad that you're alive though." Andrew sobbed, a tear running down his face.

"Sharks. If it weren't for Josh, I'd like to go and kill every last one of them." Martha said viciously.

"Sharks? Josh? Um, excuse me, but what does this have to do with Josh?" Annabeth asked hesitantly.

"I'm sure Josh told you that he was an environmentalist. He wanted to protect nature and constantly quarreled with me about my factories. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't own some of the world's most efficient and cleanest factories." Andrew said proudly. Then his face fell. "But now I will never have a quarrel with him anymore."

Martha patted Andrew's shoulder soothingly. "Look Annabeth, Josh told us a lot about you, and I know you probably want to spend some time by yourself or with your family, but please answer this question: Did you love him and would you have married him?"

Annabeth decided in that split second to lie instead of the truth. The truth would hurt too much and she would make a dangerous enemy.

"Yes I would. I loved him a lot, and I would've married him without hesitation." She said firmly.

Both Martha and Andrew cheered up visibly. "Thank you my dear. I'm glad to know that Josh at least had a happy ending and had such a great girlfriend."

Annabeth put on a sad and depressed face. "Pardon me for asking, but how long have I been out? And where am I?"

Martha gave a watery chuckle. "Our manners have certainly deteriorated. Forgive us. You've been out for two days due to severe oxygen-starvation, and you're currently in New York."

"New York!" Annabeth said, surprise crossing over her face. She was stunned, they had airlifted her all the way back to their house?

Martha misinterpreted the look for panic. "It's alright, we packed everything in your hotel, and we're very sorry that we had to bring you back here, but Andrew just doesn't trust those doctors in Greece. He never liked them much, even more so now with all the budget mess going on. Your contractor agreed to let you off, but is completely willing to take you back if you wish. We'll provide all the transportation too if you want to go back. It's only fair since we did "abduct" you from your work in Greece." Martha said apologetically.

Annabeth chose her words carefully. "That's really too kind of you, but I don't think I'm going to go back to Greece. It'll bring back too many painful memories, at least for now. I'd like to talk to my family and just, I don't know, just wander around for a bit before finding more work to do?"

Andrew nodded. "If you'd like to leave now, I can prepare transportation to your destination of choice. And if you ever find yourself in need of some work to do, or just some help, feel free to call me at any time of the day. My son said you were the cleverest architect he'd ever seen, and I believe him."

"Thank you very much. I'd better go and pack then..." Annabeth faltered when she saw her duffel already packed at the bedside table. "Um, well, perhaps change my clothes."

Andrew and Martha nodded. "Whenever you're ready, you can come down and we'll send you on your way." Andrew said, walking out the door with Martha.

Annabeth felt guilty when they left. It was all her fault that Josh had died. She was positive that Poseidon and possibly even her mom had killed him. She forced it out of her head, deciding to concentrate on what to tell Chiron and her half siblings about her sudden return. She'd probably just tell them that she was done there, and the dick heads didn't like listening to her.

Annabeth quickly changed into a comfortable gray shirt and jeans before slinging the duffel over her shoulder and stepped out the door. She saw the staircase and quickly walked downstairs, meeting Andrew and Martha when she reached the end of the stairs.

"Ready to go?" Martha asked, dabbing at her eyes again. Andrew was wandering around aimlessly.

"I am. And thank you so much for your hospitality. I don't know how I will ever manage to repay you." Annabeth said politely.

"Nonsense. We'll never be able to repay you for giving Josh the happiest time of his life. It's the least we can do. I hope we can meet again, Annabeth." Andrew said hoarsely.

Annabeth nodded and gave each of them a tight hug. "Thanks again. And I'm pretty sure we'll see you again." Annabeth said, waving to them one last time as she walked outside. They nodded sadly.

"Good bye dear."

Annabeth climbed into the limo that was waiting outside, and to her surprise found the same attendant that had given her her first ride with Josh. The attendant had red eyes too.

"Forgive me miss for not opening your door, I'm just-Oh!" He said, startled as he recognized her. "Where to miss?"

"Farm Road, 3.141. It's a place where I go when I'm searching for peace." Annabeth said, just in case he questioned her for going to a empty place.

The attendant nodded his head and started the limo. In a few minutes, Annabeth had arrived at the home she hadn't seen in many months.

"We're there miss. Do you need anything else?"

"I'm fine, thank you so much for your help. Perhaps we can meet again in the future?" Annabeth said, climbing out of the limo.

The attendant bowed his head. She closed the door and the limo drove off. Annabeth gave a sad smile and turned to Half Blood Hill. _Percy, here I come, whether you want me to or not._

Annabeth reached the top of the hill and saw Peleus, guarding the Golden Fleece as usual. Annabeth relaxed when she saw it. Some things never changed. Or so she thought. By god was she wrong. The instant Annabeth stepped past the borders, she heard some yelling mixed with screams and cheering. Frowning, she hurried to the pavilion and found the source of the noise. A black haired guy clad in heavy armour was surrounded by a group of screaming girls, not all from the Aphrodite cabin.

Annabeth's heartbeat quickened when she saw the black haired boy but then went into full overdrive when she realized it wasn't Percy. Yet the boy had the same black hair and the same green eyes. But the green eyes were lackluster, looked dull, and the boy had a pudgy face.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" Annabeth screamed.

Everyone instantly quieted down and stared at her. The boy who had the same hair colour and eye colour as Percy stepped-no, _swaggered-_ forward, a sneer on his face. "Who are you? He asked in a pompous manner, his beady, pig-like eyes sweeping over her entire body. Annabeth instantly decided that she hated him and automatically classified him as a pervert.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena. An old camper. Who are you? Where's Chiron?" Annabeth replied in a stiff tone.

The pompous pervert smirked. "I'm Matthew Grant, a immortal demigod Son of Poseidon and Guardian of this Camp. I'm the most powerful Son of Poseidon there is around." He said.

Annabeth's eyes flared. She really hated him now. And more than ever, she wanted Percy back. "Huh. Conceited much? And _where is Chiron?"_ Annabeth said through clenched teeth, glaring at Matthew with her best glare.

Matthew flinched in spite of himself. "You dare talk to me like that bitch? No one wants you. And the horsy guy and the wine dude are in the Big House." Matthew said nastily, walking off with a disgusting snort. A crowd of campers followed after him. However, there was also a group of people who stayed behind. Annabeth examined them and recognized her old friends. Travis, Connor, Katie, Nyssa, Jake Mason, Chris and Clarisse. Her entire cabin, behind Malcolm was there too. Oh gods. Clarisse looked _pissed._ She also realized they were all glaring at her with slight disgust.

"So. You finally decide to crawl back here? You have the nerve to be back here after what you did? Huh Owl Girl?" Clarisse said with contempt.

"W-What do you mean? And where's Percy? Has he come back?" Annabeth asked with desperation and confusion.

"Has he come back? Are you _fucking_ kidding me? You broke his heart!" Katie screeched. Annabeth was shocked. She had never seen Katie that angry before, except when the Stoll's had put chocolate eggs on her cabin's roof. And she has never heard her swear either.

"I-"

"Annie Bell, I suggest we talk about this at the Big House. In private. Chiron would like to talk to you too."

Annabeth turned towards the voice and say Mr. D. He seemed rather sad, and tired. "Come." He said to her. To the other campers that were glaring at Annabeth, he said, "Off you go. Anywhere. I don't care, anywhere is better than that stupid bastard." They nodded and dispersed, leaving Annabeth and Mr. D alone together. Without warning her, Dionysus snapped his fingers and teleported both he and Annabeth into the Big House. Dionysus promptly collapsed into a oversized sofa, picked up a sausage and flicked it towards Seymour. The leopard head swallowed it whole with a roar, then a loud burp.

Annabeth turned and saw a second occupant. She recognized with a start that it was Chiron, in his full centaur form.

"Chiron!" She cried happily, rushing forward to hug him. Chiron allowed her to hug him for a while before gently disengaging himself for her.

"Why Annabeth? Why did you do it?" Chiron asked sadly.

Annabeth knew what he was talking about. He was talking about her dumping Percy. She looked down at the ground in shame, her cheeks turning red. She tried to form words but found she couldn't. Instead, tears started rolling down her face.

"There, there. Don't cry, there's still a little hope I suppose…" Chiron said sadly, pulling out a tissue and gently wiping Annabeth's face.

"What…what do you mean a little hope?" Annabeth asked hoarsely.

Chiron sighed and ran a hand through his bushy hair. "There's perhaps a chance for you to find Percy and reconcile with him. But it's so slim, I'd rather take my chances with a bed full of pit scorpions."

"You mean he hasn't come back after all this time?" Annabeth asked, fear beginning to grip her.

"No. He returned. For a couple weeks. He read your letter Annabeth, and nearly destroyed half of the camp with his pain. Added onto that horrible demigod Matthew, he…left. And I do not know where he has gone. Dionysus knows, but refuses to say. He says it is not his secret to say. And Grover's empathy link with Percy is gone. Completely gone."

Annabeth froze. "That means he's dead-?"

Chiron shook his head. "If Percy were dead, Grover would be dead too. So we can take small comfort in that. The only thing Dionysus has told me is that Percy is having… a rough life."

"That's an understatement." Dionysus muttered.

Annabeth turned and glared at Dionysus before turning back to Chiron. "What about Jason? Thalia? Nico? Have they heard of _anything?_ And who's this Matthew? How can he be a son of Poseidon? And immortal?" She asked desperately

Chiron sighed. He decided to explain everything to Annabeth. Starting from the very beginning, but he left out the fact that Percy had been gone due to Athena's wishes. Athena had specifically ordered him not to tell her. He told her everything else though, from Matthew's appearance, the way he was treated, how he had the power to kick anyone out of camp, and then Dionysus told Annabeth how Triton and Amphitrite had plotted the entire thing many years ago. When they finished, Annabeth stood stock still, pure shock on her face.

"How long has he been gone?" Annabeth said after several minutes of shocked silence.

"A month or so." Chiron answered.

"If Poseidon hates Matthew, why can't he just take away his rank and immortality?"

"One of the laws by my dumb father. He made the law so that the person who received it fully deserved immortality. Ugh, basically, it was to prevent the gods from making mortals immortal for a couple minutes to let them heal and then take away the immortality. So maybe in about 500 years or so, Poseidon can remove it, but for now, nope. He's immortal, that stupid brat." Dionysus said sourly. "In all honesty, I wish Perseus were back. My wife approves of him, and if she approves of him, then I approve of him."

Annabeth turned to Chiron. "Chiron, I have to search for Percy. Please. I have to. I made a mistake, and I have to correct it. Please." Annabeth practically begged.

"There is no point in searching for him. You'll never find him." Dionysus snapped.

"Dionysus, let her search. It'll be a nice excuse to stay away from Matthew anyways." Chiron said.

"Fine then. If you want to go on a suicide mission, go ahead. I don't care." Dionysus said irritably.

"Thank you sir. Chiron, I better get going then." Annabeth said, turning to leave.

"Annabeth, wait. A word of advice. I suggest that you be careful with the old campers who are loyal to Percy. They are… sensitive about you. And another thing, if you find Percy, he may be a completely different man than he was before." Chiron said.

Annabeth nodded, too excited by the prospect of finding Percy to pay much attention to him. She bolted out the door and ran as fast as she could to her cabin, quietly slipping inside. She froze when she saw her siblings. Malcolm looked at her and sighed.

"We're not going to bother yelling at you. We're a family, so we'll stick to your side, but try not to make the same mistake alright? Especially since this mistake may be irreversible." Malcolm said calmly. "Now go sleep, or eat, or whatever you want to do. We won't stop you."

Annabeth nodded her thanks, grateful that her half-siblings weren't going to rat it out at her either. To her surprise, she saw her duffel bag on her bunk.

"It appeared there by itself. Probably Mr. D" Malcolm said, responding to the surprised look on Annabeth's face.

At any other time, Annabeth would've replied with a smart-aleck reply, but decided against it since she could tell her siblings really disapproved of her choice to leave Percy. Rifling through her duffel bag, she got ready a set of outdoor clothes, and put her Yankees cap, a bottle of nectar and some ambrosia in a small backpack. She quickly grabbed a couple of PowerBars and stuffed them in before heading straight to the door.

"You're leaving already?" Malcolm asked, his surprised face mirroring his other siblings.

Annabeth nodded. "Yup. There's still plenty of sunshine before dinner, and besides, I don't think I want to be stuck in this camp with that sea scum."

Malcolm laughed. "True enough. If you come back and find a very angry Matthew, don't say anything. Something the Hermes cabin and we are planning. And good luck hunting." Malcolm said.

"Thanks." And with that, Annabeth walked out the door, easily evading the numerous campers that wandered around camp. As she reached Thalia's tree, she smiled slightly at the sun, determined to find Percy and right her mistakes. She desperately hoped that Percy would somehow forgive her, even though she knew the chances were slim.

 _I'm coming for you Percy, even if I can't find you, or can't be with you, I'm coming._

For two continuous months, Annabeth searched all over the place for Percy, asking around, following monster trails and even begging Dionysus to give her a hint. Dionysus remained as immovable as a mountain. Annabeth gave a small sigh of despair as she walked along the beach where she and Percy used to sit, making out or just relaxing in each other's presence. The moon was amazingly bright tonight, despite being ¾ full, it looked like a full moon, shining down with a powerful glow. _Artemis must be happy tonight about something_. Annabeth thought.

Even though she hadn't found a trace of Percy, she wasn't going to give up. If this was her punishment for dumping Percy, she was ready to take it. She didn't regret it either, since searching for Percy gave her the perfect excuse to escape camp. It also gave her plenty of chances to practice her dagger skills. They had come back amazingly fast, and since there were plenty of monsters around, she was getting better and better with it.

Annabeth kicked the sand in slight frustration as she thought of the possible places where Percy could be. She'd contacted, Jason, Piper and Leo. She'd talked to Frank and Hazel, and had the sense that they weren't exactly very warm to her. She'd even Iris Messaged Nico, and he hadn't found a trace of him either. He assured her that he was alive, since if Percy were dead, he'd sense it. That was a relief, but Annabeth was still frustrated. Wait a moment… of all the people she'd Iris Messaged, she hadn't called her best friend! Thalia! She was with the hunters, and when Percy had been kidnapped by Hera the first time, Artemis had even ordered her hunters to search for him. Which meant a lot, and she could always confide in Thalia. At least, she hoped so. She knew that Percy and Thalia had a close bond, not a romantic bond, but a close sibling bond despite their arguments.

Annabeth took a look at the super bright moon. Was it possible to create a moonbow? She'd heard of it, but knew it was rare. Worth a try. Taking out her water sprayer, she continuously sprayed the air and to her surprise, saw a faint "rainbow." Or in this case, a mist-moonbow. Knowing it wouldn't last long, she acted quickly. Taking a drachma out of her pocket, she tossed it in.

 _"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering and show my Thalia Grace, most likely with the Hunters of Artemis"_

The image shimmered and Annabeth watched her moonbow excitedly. Just in case the moonbow faded, she sprayed a bit more water into the air, watching the pictures that were beginning to form closely. What she saw shocked her. Thalia was in a tight embrace with a man who was quite a bit taller than her, Thalia's black hair and the man's black hair mixing together perfectly. She hurriedly tried to listen in on what they were saying.

"…on Earth. Love ya Perce." Thalia said, her face turning red as she pulled back even though she was smiling.

Percy smiled. "Love you too Thals. Since when-"Annabeth gasped loudly. She couldn't help it, but she recognized the man as Percy the instant Thalia said 'Perce' since it was a special nickname that Thalia reserved for Percy. She hurriedly slashed her hand through the mist, whirling around, her mind in turmoil. Percy. Percy was in love with Thalia? How could Thalia do this to her? Percy was hers. And hers alone. How could _Percy_ do this to her? She couldn't believe what she had just seen. Tears running down her face, she struggled to comprehend what she had just seen. True, she didn't see them kiss, but that was a tight hug. And Thalia had said _it_ , she hadn't said _it_ formally obviously, but Percy hadn't mind, he'd _smiled_ and replied the same way!

It galled her that Percy fallen for Thalia. She could understand if he had moved on, slightly, since she _had_ left Percy after all, but _Thalia?_ And Thalia was a huntress; she shouldn't and couldn't fall in love! And she should be helping her get back with Percy, not take him for herself! Belatedly, Annabeth realized that Thalia had known where Percy was for a long time, and hadn't even told her! Red anger boiled through her blood as she stomped her way back to the Athena cabin, ignoring her siblings as she slammed through the door. Stifling her sobs, she lay in her bunk, forcing herself to calm herself down and think of a way to get to Percy, drag him back, beat him up, then beat her best friend up.

A cold calmness and fury replaced her boiling anger. Thalia had still been wearing her hunter's clothing, and if Thalia had fallen in love with Percy that meant Artemis did not know about it yet. When she managed to find Percy, which would be relatively easy since all she had to do was search some forests, she'd bring the matter up to Artemis, provided Artemis hadn't found out already. Tomorrow, she'd also tell Jason and the others, and by Zeus would Thalia get into trouble. Even more so since Thalia was Zeus's daughter and Percy was Poseidon's son, and Annabeth knew that Zeus disliked Percy and Poseidon hadn't exactly been very warm towards Thalia. But if they found out, they'd blow their tops off. Annabeth grinned. Athena, or Athena's children, always had a plan. They always have a plan. She'd find Percy and bring the matter up to the gods, then she'd beat Percy up. Now _that_ was a good plan.

Little did she know that three months later, she'd get her wish to see Percy and bring the Percy-Thalia matter up to the gods in a completely unforeseen way.


	13. Chapter 13

**Artemis**

Artemis was sleeping peacefully when her hunters woke her up. Before, she would have woken instantly to see what they wanted, in case they were injured, or they were under attack, or just needed some help. But now, with Percy as an official and approved member and Guardian of the Hunt, she slacked off, telling her hunters to rouse Percy first before trying to wake her up. Unfortunately, it didn't work out quite as well as she had hoped. Percy was a heavy and deep sleeper, so even with Thalia pounding on the door and cursing at him, it took forever to wake him up, let alone get him out of bed. Strangely, whenever she, Artemis, called him or knocked on his door, he'd wake up instantly. True, his hair looked like a rat had nested in it, but that was much better than literally breaking down his door and yanking him out of bed. As it was, Artemis felt strangely touched that Percy reacted to her at once, but it came with a downside: Her hunters would usually just wake her up to get Percy out of bed. Such was the case right now.

"My Lady! C'mon, we know you're awake, we need your help!" A voice she recognized as Thalia came through the door, followed by annoyingly insistent tapping.

"Gah, leave me alone for a couple more minutes. Let me sleep." Artemis mumbled back, rolling around and stuffing her head into a pillow in an attempt to block out the knocking. For a second, there was complete silence and Artemis gave a grateful sigh before falling back asleep. Then there came a loud bang and her whole tent shook as Phoebe through her entire body against the door.

"My lady, Percy's in trouble!" Thalia yelled, pounding on the door even harder. Instantly, without a second's thought, Artemis shot out of her bed and ran to the door, flinging it wide open.

"What? Where is he? What's happened? What- Why are you all laughing?" Artemis asked, utterly bemused. Practically all of her hunters were doubled over laughing, several of them were wiping tears from their eyes as they shrieked with laughter.

"Oh my gods my lady I think we know how to get you up now," Thalia gasped out "What's happened to you? Where has the man-hating Artemis gone? Have you softened? Has _Percy_ softened you?" Thalia managed to say before surrendering to whoops of laughter.

Artemis felt her face heating up. "That's not true. I only responded so quickly because I-and you girls-consider him as part of the hunt. If anyone else were in trouble, I'd also get up immediately. So what you just said is nonsense." Artemis finished with an air of finality.

The hunters had recovered themselves enough to stand still, though many of them were still grinning from ear to ear.

"Whatever you say, my lady. But we weren't lying, Percy _is_ in trouble." Thalia said, carefully keeping her voice clear of any emotion and closely watching Artemis's reaction. For a split-second, Thalia saw fear and worry flash through her eyes before it was replaced with an indifferent look.

"Really? Well, it mustn't be very serious, considering this whole camp is still in one place and you girls had the time to have fun waking me up." Artemis said grumpily, keeping an indifferent mask on her face even though on the inside she was slightly worried.

 _Really Artemis? You're still trying to deny it? When are you going to realize Percy is perfect for you?_ Thalia thought, although not too loudly, since she didn't know whether Artemis could read her mind or not. "Yup. He's in trouble. Because we're going to wake him up." Thalia said.

Artemis frowned. "How is he in trouble then? And how does this include me?"

"Well, today we decided to wake him up with a prank. We haven't pranked him in _ages._ And besides, it'll be funny. We just need you to unlock his door because it burns our hand if we try to. And it melts any pick we put in there." Elizabeth said, a crafty look on her face.

Artemis sighed. "Very well. I suppose I'd like to see what you girls are going to do to him anyway. But you could've just asked me to unlock his door, instead of saying he's in trouble when he really isn't in trouble." Artemis said, walking towards Percy's tent.

"But he _is_ in trouble. He's in trouble with _us_. And anyways, we just found the perfect way to wake you up." Tracy said cheerfully, giving Artemis a sly look.

Artemis stopped in front of Percy's tent and looked at Tracy with surprise on her face. "You support this prank too?" Artemis asked. Before Percy had become a approved member of the hunt, Tracy had always argued with the other girls and even foiled many of their pranks.

Tracy smiled. Was there ever a time she never smiled? "That's true my lady, but like what Elizabeth said, we haven't had a fun prank on him since forever. And this is really funny."

Artemis shrugged. She could never say no to a fun prank on Percy. It was just too good to pass. Reaching out, she put her hand onto the doorknob and sent a pulse of silver fire into it, intending to melt it. The doorknob glowed before returning to normal. Artemis frowned. Every door she had tried it on had melted instantly, even Hermes own doorknob had melted when she had gone to beat him up for flirting with one of her hunters. She tried it again, this time sending a blast of silver fire into it. Still the same result.

"Percy _is_ a fire user and water user after all. Why don't you just try to open it without doing anything fancy?" Thalia asked.

Artemis was doubtful but she put her hand on the doorknob and turned. A soft green flame glowed around her hand and the door clicked open.

"Awww, isn't that nice, Percy only lets you open the door, no one else." Tracy whispered in a soft singsong voice.

Artemis struggled to hold back a blush and hastily searched for an excuse. "Nonsense. That's because he'd know I'd beat him up if he locked me out of his tent. Now what are you girls going to do?"

"First of all, we need to make sure he's fully clothed, or at least make sure he has pants on." Thalia said, motioning to several hunters as she silently crept forward.

"Well, we certainly know he sleeps shirtless now." Thalia said, waving her hand at Percy's muscular, toned, and lean arms after shooting Artemis a sly glance.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? How do you know he's not going to wake?" Artemis hissed quietly.

Thalia gave a light snort. "I've known him long enough to know he sleeps like a rock. Has to, remember when we moved his entire mattress onto the river? He never so much as gave a grumble."

"Yeah, he really is a heavy sleeper. Anyways, I can see his pants poking out a bit here so he's only half-naked. Let's get started before he really does wake up." Phoebe said.

Thalia nodded and motioned to the other hunters, where they promptly began pulling back Percy's covers. Meanwhile, Artemis curiously watched several hunters reach into their backpacks, coming out with a couple cans of whipped cream and one brought out a large feather. Thalia had quietly unhooked several of her long chains and began to chain them together, creating an ultra-long chain.

"Alright. All set. And I must say, he's got one hot body." Christy said quietly.

Artemis glared at her.

Christy laughed. "Relax my lady, I have absolutely no intention of not being a maiden. Besides, Percy is reserved for yo- er, he's off limits I mean." Christy said, her face turning slightly red as she nearly let slip the fact that Percy was reserved for Artemis. Thankfully, Artemis didn't seem to notice as she was drinking in the sight of Percy's body.

Artemis had to admit, Christy was right. With the covers off, she could clearly see Percy's lean, chiseled and well defined muscles, from his impressive eight pack to his broad shoulders and powerful arms to his perfectly cut jawline and his wonderfully shaped lips. Even in his sleep, he seemed to let off a sense of power and strength. Artemis was strangely tempted to reach over and brush Percy's hair back from his forehead before she remembered where she was and who she was with. She also realized that her hunters were watching her. Holding back a blush of embarrassment to be caught gazing-no, _ogling_ -at a man so obviously, she quickly asked a question to distract her hunters, not meeting any of their gazes.

"So, what are you going to do? And what's with the feather and the whipped cream?" Artemis asked as nonchalantly as possible.

All the hunters had mischievous smiles. "You'll see soon enough my lady!" Diana said.

A couple hunters carefully pulled Percy's arm across so his hand hung over the edge. Then a hunter took out can of whipped cream and squirted a healthy amount of it onto his hand, covering his entire hand in white puff. Thalia gave a devilish grin and took the large feather and began tickling Percy's nose with it. A second later, Percy's hand automatically came up to brush the feather away and Thalia quickly jerked the feather back, causing all the whipped cream on Percy's hand to transfer to his nose. Artemis and her hunters suppressed a giggle as they saw the white foam on Percy's nose. They reapplied the whip cream back onto his hand and waited for Thalia to choose another target.

"Alright, let's see… aha, his mouth! Yes, that's a good target." Thalia whispered. She gently tickled Percy's lips and a half-second later, his hand came up to brush the feather off. And again, Thalia pulled away just in time, causing a swath of whipped cream to cover his mouth. Everyone held back another round of giggles, Percy looked absolutely ridiculous, and yet he was still sleeping oh-so-peacefully, completely oblivious to what was happening. And so it went. The hunters would fill his hand up with whipped cream, Thalia or Tracy would choose a place to tickle, and Percy would unknowingly spread the whipped cream all over his face.

"Oh my gods, I think this is the best prank ever." Thalia gasped, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Yeah! He looks like Santa now!" Tracy said, her stomach aching from holding back her laughter. At the mention of Santa, the huntresses burst into another round of barely suppressed giggles. Artemis had to admit, Percy had a vague resemblance to that mortal Santa Claus thing. Seeing as Thalia had tickled Percy's nose, lips, chin, both cheeks and his forehead, he was covered in foamy white stuff. She found it highly amusing, even though she did a better job of concealing it than her hunters did.

"So now what? Are you girls going to wake him up now?" Artemis asked, curious on what they planned next.

"Oh yeah, we're going to wake him up. Just not in the usual way." Thalia said, indicating her super long chain. "Diana, Christy, bring the mirror over here and set it at head height. I think that'll be perfect. Phoebe, help me lift up Fat Percy will ya?"

Artemis held back a snort. Percy was anything but fat. She highly doubted whether there was even one percent of his body that wasn't lean muscle. _Oh Hades, why am I paying attention to how much muscle Percy's got?_

"Alright my lady, we're done. What do you think?" Thalia asked.

Artemis looked around and saw a relatively big mirror standing at Percy's normal head height. Thalia and Phoebe had wrapped the super long chain around Percy's stomach once and saw a shirt lying within easy reach once he got up, a load of whipped cream clearly visible inside it.

"Are you sure nothing bad is going to happen?" Artemis asked.

"Of course. Just a light shock. We'll all go hiding, since I have a feeling this is going to be real funny" Thalia said, her eyes glinting. All of the hunters had packed up their "equipment" and were already at the door, waiting.

Artemis shrugged. It would be pretty funny to see his reaction. "I still can't believe he slept through all that… well, alright then, let's go."

They quickly filed out of the tent and went into positions. Most of the hunters hid behind a tent but Thalia merely sat on a stool. Artemis quietly sat in front of a bush, magically changing her clothing colours to that of the bush. Without looking carefully, you would never see her auburn hair or her face. She could see, and yet not be seen.

"Well, here goes nothing." Thalia said. She sent a pretty powerful shock into the chain and Artemis watched as the entire chain glowed blue with sparks flying off before it stopped. There was a yell and Percy's voice came bellowing out of his tent.

"THALIA GRA-AHHHHHH SANTA!" Percy screamed. There was another loud yell and a crash, followed by a shattering sound. It sounded like a piece of glass or a mirror had broken. "THALIA! I'M GOING TO-ACCKK! WHAT THE HADES!"

The huntresses were screaming with laughter and Thalia had fallen off her stool, rolling around on the ground, laughing so hard that tears were running down her face.

"I-I think that was him trying to p-put his shir-irt on." Thalia choked out. Even Artemis was shaking with laughter but she managed to control it enough so it didn't look like the bush was doing a Irish jig.

A split second later, Percy burst out of his tent with a hastily thrown on shirt that was backwards and more or less left his abs bare. Artemis chuckled when she saw he had some whipped cream in his hair and had some on his neck.

"Thalia…" Percy growled. His gaze instantly fell on Thalia, who was still on the ground rolling with laughter. She stopped when she saw Percy.

"Ummm, how about I just go? Bye!" Thalia said, turning to run. Too late. Percy leapt at her, catching her across her midriff, causing her to crash to the ground. However, instead of looking scared, Artemis noticed she had a triumphant look on her face. "Hunters! Part two!" Thalia yelled gleefully.

"Wha…?" Percy said, turning around in confusion. That was all he could say before all the hunters piled on top of him, crushing him beneath their weight. There was a muffled yell and mass struggling.

"Yay! Wrestling and beat-Percy-up time! This is fun!" Tracy yelled happily, jumping onto the huge pile.

Instead of a growl of anger that Artemis was expecting, she heard a very familiar deep chuckle as Percy playfully fought back. Artemis couldn't help but smile an impossibly happy smile. Over the past three months since he got accepted by the Hunt, the Hunters and Percy had formed a close bond. They were now truly a large, happy family, and whenever her Hunters felt like it, they called Percy 'brother' instead of 'Percy'. Percy replied in kind by calling them his "little sisters", even though some of them were far older than he was. Artemis shook her head. If _anyone_ , even the Fates themselves told her that a male would join her Hunt, and be accepted, she would have scoffed and mocked their sanity.

And yet here he was, truly part of the Hunt, and getting beaten up by the Hunters. Percy had achieved the impossible yet again, and this feat impressed her more than anything else he'd done, even more than when he had taken her wounds for him. _Percy really is the perfect man._ Artemis thought wonderingly. The only hero to have had his heartbroken by his lover. Artemis chuckled as a thought entered her head. If Annabeth hadn't broken up with him, he would never have joined her Hunt. Before, Artemis had wanted to skin Annabeth alive and torture her for eternity. Now, she just might have to thank her, since she couldn't imagine her Hunt without Percy. Artemis froze at that thought. Had Percy grown on her that much that she couldn't even _imagine_ life without him? Surely he couldn't mean so much to her and her hunter's, could he? Artemis was shaken out of her thoughts by squeals and a low groan.

Percy was spread-eagled on the ground, face in the dirt. A couple hunters were sitting on top of him, and Tracy was beaming contentedly as she sat on his back. "You lose again big brother!" She said cheerfully.

Percy gave a groan. "That's not fair, I'm being piled by fifteen girls. And please let me up, I don't want to be any closer to Gaea than I have to." Percy mumbled into the dirt.

Thalia smirked. "Well, no, I'm not letting you up. I don't think I'll ever have this chance again anyways." Thalia walked over and promptly sat down on Percy's head, causing shrieks of protest.

"Thalia! What are you doing?" Percy yelled as best as he could, trying not to get any dirt in his mouth. The hunters chortled.

"Well, I must say, your head is quite a comfortable place to sit. It's like a big rock." Thalia commented as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The hunters laughed again.

Percy gave a shriek. "You're _sitting on my head?_ What the Hades Thalia! And what did I do to deserve this?" Percy growled through the dirt.

"Well, don't you remember? It's your 3rd month anniversary with us! Quite an accomplishment!" Thalia said, leaning backwards and comfortably leaning against Tracy's back.

"Oh, well forgive me then, I thought anniversaries were supposed to be happy and fun." Percy said sarcastically as he finally managed to turn his head sideways a little bit, allowing him to breathe slightly better.

"Oi stop moving. Rocks aren't supposed to move. And besides, we're having fun and we're happy, so doesn't that fit your requirements?" Thalia replied smoothly.

"Excuse me, but are you guys having the anniversary? No. This is supposed to be my "anniversary", as you say, and I just got whipped-creamed, shocked, beaten up and now I'm getting my head squashed by an airhead." Percy complained.

"Oh ho, congratulations, you finally found another insult for me Coral Boy. Keep on going and I might get Phoebe to sit on your head instead." Thalia said.

Percy gulped. Phoebe was _big._ "Well, either way, can you get off my head? I highly doubt Artemis would like what you're doing anyways."

Thalia snorted. "If Artemis doesn't approve of this, she would've done something by now. Any other lame excuses?"

"Yeah. My shirt is going to be permanently stained with dirt, and since I don't always have to do laundry, maybe I'll be lucky and you'll have to wash it." Percy said, spitting some stray dirt out of his mouth.

Thalia chortled. "That has got to be the dumbest excuse ever Seaweed Brain. Or maybe you forgot. Most likely the latter, considering how you're head feels like a rock. Remember, you asked Aphrodite a couple months ago for a wardrobe full of clothing that ranged from formal to casual? They all have some chains, and if they're stained, dirty, cut, burned or whatever, it'll repair itself instantly. If that's the best you have, then I'm going to go and ask Phoebe to sit for me while I go to the restroom." Thalia said, turning to give Artemis a wink. Artemis rolled her eyes at Thalia's form of entertainment, which mainly seemed to be making Percy's life harder.

"You do realize that I could just set myself on fire and throw you all off with a bit of power don't you?" Percy stated.

"Yeah, well, if I were a Camper at that useless Camp, I'd be worried. But we're your sisters, so we have nothing to worry about." Thalia said, grinning along with the rest of her comrades.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Percy said as threateningly as possible but ruining it by smiling.

"I _know_ you. And besides, I thought I could just sense a smile in there." Thalia said, smirking.

"Ok, whatever, but can you please at least pass some wind? I'm choking a bit here." Percy asked.

Thalia let out a snort of laughter. "Really Percy? Do you really want me to "pass some wind"?" Thalia asked, shaking with laughter.

"Well, can't you? Just send me some oxygen down here, or are you completely lightning powers only?" Percy asked, completely oblivious to what his question meant.

"Last chance Percy. Do you really want me to pass some wind? It might take a while, but I'm sure I could manage it." Thalia said, struggling to keep her voice from shaking.

"What's so funny with it? And what's wrong-" Percy stopped as Diana quickly knelt down to Percy's ear and whispered a few words into it before standing back to watch Percy's reaction. Percy's eyes widened with horror. "Wait! WAIT! DON'T! I GET THE MEANING NOW! NOO, DON'T PASS WIND THALIA!" Percy yelled almost hysterically.

It was too much for Thalia and the Hunters. They burst out screaming with laughter as they all rolled off Percy, unable to control their laughter at Percy's simpleness. Artemis put her face in her hand, unable to stop smiling. Perhaps Percy wasn't a perfect man after all. _But then again, it's his flaws that make life so good and so funny._ Artemis thought wryly. His flaws were near perfect flaws. But she also remembered what Athena had said, Percy's flaws were good in moderation, but deadly and fatal in the wrong situation. Artemis decided it was time to intervene, since if she didn't do anything, her hunters would continue messing Percy up. Besides, it was practically breakfast time and Percy had a "test" to finish. Artemis walked up to the beet-red, embarrassed Percy and the crazily laughing Huntresses as casually as possible, flipping Percy over with a flick of her foot.

"Hello Perseus, I hope you had a good morning hmmm?" Artemis asked, smiling innocently, unable to resist the chance to jab at him.

That smile was enough to capture Percy's attention instantly. "Uhhh. Good Morning to you too, Moon Beam. And no need to act so innocent, I know you helped my evil little sisters get into my tent."

The hunters chortled again at his nickname for them. Artemis merely rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now get up, we need to eat and you need to take your final wilderness test."

"What! But I thought I was taking the test later! Like a couple days later!" Percy said, scrambling to his feet. "Also, why in Hades are you wearing green? I thought you wore silver?"

"Well, today _is_ your 3rd month anniversary, so I decided to move it forward. C'mon, you did pretty well these past few months training for the wilderness, there's nothing to worry about. And my clothes are green because I was blending in." Artemis said, walking towards the dining area and motioning to her hunters to follow.

"Wait a second… all the time you've been watching the girls pile me and you didn't do anything?" Percy asked incredulously.

"Yes. You have a problem with that?" Artemis asked nonchalantly as they reached the tables.

Percy gave her a rueful glare before answering. "No. So what do you want to eat today?"

"Well, since I have an idea for what we should eat for lunch, something light. Why don't you try summoning cereal? Haven't had any for a long time. Post's Honey Bunches of Oats with strawberries. That should suffice." Artemis said.

Percy frowned. "Cereal? Not sure if I can summon that… let me try." He clapped his hands and a split second later, bowls of cereal appeared before each of them. "Huh. Wow. I never knew cereal counted as home food."

"So Perseus, time for you to take your test." Artemis said after they had eaten.

Percy sighed. "Fine. What is it?"

"It's easy. Go into the forest, avoid the basic traps we've laid out and go kill that rabid bear that mauled you three months back." Artemis said. "I have some plans for it."

"What are your plans for a dead bear?" Percy asked.

"Well, you haven't eaten a single wild animal ever since you joined. And my girls haven't either for quite some time. Besides, I want to see whether you like it or not." Artemis replied.

Percy shrugged. "I could always try out new things. And killing that bear won't be hard, I'll be right back." Percy said confidently.

"Oh right, about that, no swords, daggers, throwing knives or powers. You have to kill the bear with a bow." Artemis said, summoning a bow and a quiver full of arrows before tossing it to Percy.

Percy caught it instinctively, his eyes wide with shock. " _What?_ But my lady, you _know_ I can't shoot an arrow straight for what's my life worth! Especially since I haven't gotten any training on it ever since like, three months ago!"

Artemis shrugged. "Don't worry; I have a new idea of teaching you. I don't know why Apollo's blessing doesn't work on you, but I'll do my best. And I'm pretty sure you can kill a bear at point-blank. If you can't, then I doubt _anyone_ can help. We'll be following you in the treetops to make sure you don't cheat. Now, off you go." Artemis said, waving her hand towards the forest.

Percy gave her an incredulous look before walking off into the forest. Artemis smiled at her hunters. "C'mon. I don't expect any trouble with the traps, I expect trouble killing the bear. Let's follow him." Artemis said, standing up before leaping into a tree. The hunters followed suit.

Percy carefully kept an eye out for pit-falls, traps, trip vines and the likes as he moved through the forest speedily, trying to find any trace of a bear, or perhaps animals that were being chased. He also listened for any sounds, anything that could lead him to the bear. At least he remembered what the rabid black bear looked like. Creepy bloodlust-filled eyes and quite a bit bigger than normal black bears. From the sense at the bottom of his skull, he could tell that Artemis was a couple trees behind him, and if Artemis was there, then her hunters were with her too.

Percy shook his head. He couldn't believe that the hunters had made him look like Santa and filled his shirt with whipped cream. It had been _creepy,_ to wake up with a huge shock coming from a chain across your stomach and then standing up to see Santa Claus right in front of your face. Percy had fallen backward and kicked out at the same time, half of his brain shocked that Santa was in front of him, and the other half, the battle half, going straight to self-defense. Then he had heard a loud crash and then, only then, realized that it was merely a mirror and his face had been coated in whipped cream while he had been sleeping. And his shirt! He really should've paid more attention to his shirt; it had been _filled_ with whipped cream. The instant he put it on, all the cream oozed out, scaring the crap out of him.

Percy smiled. While he had been initially angry, after wrestling with the hunters, he had to admit it was fun. It was these types of things that made life worth living again. And Artemis. Artemis somehow had the way of catching your attention instantly, and life with her was _never_ bored. She was unpredictable. When you expected her to come out yelling and punching, she comes out with a heart-stopping smile. And when you expect her to be happy, or at least not angry, she smacks you across the face. _She is such an interesting and intriguing woman._ Percy thought. _And impossibly beauti-_

Percy was ripped from his thoughts by an instinctive sense warning him. Instantly, he leaped as high as he could and was glad he did. As he landed, the ground right behind him fell into a big hole that was probably filled with who-knows-what. He heard a snicker behind him and was about to offer a retort when he heard a loud growl. Percy set his eyes aflame and easily saw his target. Looked exactly the same and its eyes were as bloodlust-filled as ever. Percy grinned and was about to run to the bear and tackle it, planning to stick it with his dagger before he remembered that Artemis had ordered him to use a bow and arrow. He cursed as the bear bowled towards him, roaring insanely.

Percy leapt aside and shimmied up a tree, after three months of vigorous training with Artemis, his wilderness skills were far better than before. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about his archery, since Artemis hadn't trained him on it yet. Easily balancing himself on the tree branch, he notched an arrow and pointed at the bear, which was about 15 feet away. He took aim, let loose… and missed.

Percy groaned as his arrow went flashing past the bear. The good news was that the bear pounced on the place where the arrow had landed and had stopped trying to sniff him out. The bad news was that many of the trees seemed to be shaking and Percy swore that he could hear many girls laughing. Percy cursed before notching another arrow and letting it go. Again, he missed. Percy continued firing ten more arrows, each of them missing. By the time he emptied his quiver, the bear was literally dizzy from turning around and pouncing on so many arrows landing in so many places. The hunters weren't even trying to conceal themselves, they were laughing outright. He could also hear a sparkling laugh that he knew could only come from Artemis.

Percy gave a growl of frustration before deciding to do something rather controversial. He knew that Artemis's bows were much harder than mortal bows and from what Thalia had told him, they were nearly unbreakable. Thalia's had only broken during the Titan War because a Laistrygonian had thrown a cannonball right at it. Percy leapt down and landed right beside the bear before bringing the bow up and slamming it down on its neck, the pointy end of the bow sinking deep into its flesh. The bear roared and read up on its hind legs. Percy yanked the bow up before stabbing the bear several times in the chest before putting the bear's head in between the bow and the string, yanking downwards. As the bear fell to the ground, Percy raised the bow one last time and sank it straight into its eyes, killing it instantly as the sharp end of the bow punched through the eye and right into the brain.

"That was cheating." A cold voice said behind him.

 _Uh oh._ _Best act innocent._ "I beg your pardon m'lady?" Percy said, smoothly turning on his heels and bowing his special bow that he reserved only for her.

"I thought I said no close combat?" Artemis asked, glaring at him.

"Er, no you didn't my lady. You said no swords, no daggers, no throwing knives and no powers. Just use the bow. And I did. So you can't complain against that." Percy said, resisting the urge to smirk.

Artemis face palmed herself. "Damn you Jackson. It appears I underestimated you."

"So, is my training complete then?" Percy asked cheerfully.

"Yes." Artemis growled. She pointed at the bear and flicked her hand, causing it to disappear in a fine silver mist. "But don't you dare think you're a good hunter. Acceptable, perhaps, but not good." The hunters chortled.

"Acceptable? Well, we'll see who's acceptable when I start training you girls with sword fighting, chains and daggers." Percy said, grinning evilly.

"Hey, who said that you're going to be training us?" Thalia asked, a little wary.

"Well, Artemis said so. And c'mon, are you telling me you're the forgetful one now Thals? Remember our deal three months ago? I finish wilderness training and I get to teach you girls right after. And that's what I'm going to do. Now let's get going to the training arena." Percy said before extending his wings and flying right off.

The hunters gave Artemis a rueful look. "C'mon girls, you know this is good for you. And besides, one day, we'll visit camp and you can show off some new moves. Wouldn't that be great?" Artemis asked. The hunters instantly brightened. Torturing campers was a fun pastime of theirs. "Alright, now let's go." She snapped her fingers and teleported them to the training arena and found, to her surprise, that Percy had already set up several dummies and was casually twirling his dagger in his hand. He nodded when he saw her.

"Alright, who's up?" Percy asked, holding the dagger now.

Everyone froze. "What do you mean, who's up? Aren't you going to show us?" Thalia asked hesitantly.

Percy nodded. "Of course I'm going to show you. But showing on dummies is a bad idea, dummies don't exactly respond and move like a person. That's why I need a volunteer. And besides, there are a couple of things I could correct before we even start fighting."

Phoebe agreed. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll go first."

"Alright, get your blade in a ready position then." Percy said. Phoebe nodded and took out her own hunting knife and held it in a position similar to a sword.

"No, that's not how you hold a dagger properly. Hammer grip is for swords, you use an icepick grip for daggers." Percy said.

Phoebe frowned. "I've been fighting this style for quite a while. And icepick grips are marks for an amateur."

Percy shook his head. "In the hands of an unskilled knife fighter, then obviously. But allow me to show you why a hammer grip isn't good. Attack me now."

Phoebe leaped forward; bringing her dagger in a downward arc, just as Percy had hoped. He took a slight step sideways and shot his left hand out, grabbing her wrist. Then he yanked her forwards slightly, causing her to stumble onto one foot and Percy lifted his left leg, soundly kicking her back with his entire leg before elbowing her arm, causing her knife to suddenly fall from nerveless fingers. Percy plucked the dagger out of the air as Phoebe stumbled backwards. All of that took less than two seconds.

All the hunters had shocked expressions. Phoebe was known for being incredibly hard to disarm, Thalia was the only one who had disarmed her _once,_ and that had been because Thalia had slammed Phoebe with her shield.

"You see why a hammer grip is no good? If someone grabs your wrist, unless that person is slow, you'll most likely be disarmed. With an icepick grip, you can defend yourself if someone grabs your wrist. We'll do it slow motion so everyone can see. Try it." Percy said, handing the dagger back to Phoebe. Phoebe took the dagger and flipped it so the point of the blade was pointing down. Then she slashed upwards and Percy once again went forward and grabbed her wrist.

"There. You see? If someone does this, which is highly likely, all you have to is rotate your wrist a bit and the dagger can wreck chaos to tendons, blood vessels, and if you can twist your wrest enough, you could cut his hand off." Percy said, indicating how Phoebe's knife was in a perfect position to cut his wrist. "So, change to icepick. It's a lot better, trust me."

Phoebe nodded. "Can you also teach us how to disarm? Your way of disarming was really good."

Percy grinned. "That's what I'm here for, right?"

Percy surveyed his beat up, bruised and exhausted sisters. In a blunt way of showing how hard he'd train them for the last three hours, all of them were just sitting or lying down on the arena floor, depleted of all energy. The younger hunters, who had been in the hunt for a shorter amount of time, were practically passed out, not moving. Percy felt slightly regretful, since he'd pushed them hard, but seeing as Artemis hadn't said anything, he supposed Artemis was OK with it.

Artemis walked back from the dining place, completely done preparing lunch. She saw Percy sitting in a meditative position and saw all of her hunters just lying all over the place, exhausted. She surveyed her beat up hunters with a deep pride, they had improved greatly in a relatively short time span, having learned valuable footwork, sword tricks, various ways to disarm, tried-but failed-to dual wield a dagger and a chain, and had learned a rather brutal way of killing someone without weapons, which included causing the victim to fall on his back and the killer jumping up and landing on the victim's head…

"So Perseus, it's your turn now." Artemis called to him.

Percy frowned slightly. "My turn for what?"

"Well, you just beat my hunters up. It's only honourable for me to beat you up. Besides, I said that I wouldn't go easy on you anymore all those months back. And no holding back, I want to see what you're capable of." Artemis said, summoning her two hunting merciless looking hunting knives from nowhere.

"Oh you are soo on Moon Beam." Percy said, leaping to his feet and uncapping both of his swords. Percy let Artemis attack first, intending to counter-attack, but Artemis had millennia of experience and easily blocked it, kicking at his stomach to push him back. Percy leaped back and stabbed with one sword while slashing with the other, forcing Artemis to deflect both strikes and leaving her body unprotected for an instant. Percy kicked out but pulled the blow so that Artemis stumbled backwards instead of flying backwards.

Artemis frowned. "I said no holding back."

Percy bowed. "As you wish." Then he leapt forward, raining down blow after blow against Artemis's blades, sparks flying. Artemis was surprised at the ferocity of it, he was _extremely_ strong, she could feel the impact as she blocked each blow and what made it harder was that Percy was _fast._ Usually, strong people were slow and predictable, but Percy seemed to have the best of both worlds. _But he's not as fast as I am._ Artemis thought, deciding to go all out with him.

Artemis aimed a wild kick at him, aiming only to push him back before literally turning into a silver whirlwind of death. Artemis attacked faster than Percy thought possible as he struggled to keep Artemis's blades at bay. Percy cursed as he continuously took steps backwards to avoid getting shredded to bits. He gritted his teeth as one of Artemis's blades got past his guard, drawing a shallow gash across his arm. He spared it a glance before returning to analyze Artemis's fighting patterns, he was pretty sure he'd found a weak spot. If only he could intercept the strike… There! Percy hooked one of Artemis's daggers out before knocking the other into the air. Unfortunately for him, he forget about Artemis's feet work. She kicked him in the second and as he bent forward, she flipped backwards, smashing Percy's jaw with both of her feet and sending him reeling backwards in the process. Percy gave a low growl as he shook his head to clear the stars from his vision before leaping forward, swinging his swords at the seemingly unprotected Artemis. Artemis grinned and held her hands out, her knives appearing there magically to block them.

And so it went. Block, parry, dodge, slash, riposte, stab, slash again, occasional punches. Percy was becoming exhausted. Sure, he'd manage to wound Artemis a bit on the arms and a slash across the stomach, but she seemed unstoppable and he'd receive a couple more slashes across the chest. He began wondering how the hell she'd manage to get overpowered by a group of monsters and two drakons. Every time he disarmed her, she'd just leap backwards or just dodge his attack and summon her blades right back. But if he was getting tired, so was Artemis. They were both heavily drenched in sweat even though their attacks were, if anything, becoming faster.

"Give up Perseus, you can't beat me." Artemis panted.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Over my dead body. I'm not giving up unless forced to." Percy said, locking blades with Artemis.

Artemis shrugged. "So be it." She pushed back at Percy and let loose a bit of godly power. Percy flew backwards and she helped him fly by blasting him with a ball of silver fire, causing him to land in a heap.

"Hey! That's not fair! Who said we could use our powers in this fight?" Percy yelled in a muffled voice as he staggered to his feet.

"Who said we couldn't?" Artemis shot back, smirking.

"Well, two can play that game…" Percy growled. He summoned balls of fire and began throwing them, one after another at Artemis, forcing her to constantly twirl and dodge, or be at risk of getting burnt. Artemis raised her hand a summoned a wall of silvery magic, blocking each of Percy's fireballs. She was about to taunt him Percy grinned and raised his hands. A tidal wave of water appeared out of nowhere, smashing and obliterating her shield. She just managed to leap high enough to avoid getting drenched. Artemis raised her arms and called down a rain of silver-fire shaped arrows, causing Percy to dance around like a fool as he successfully dodged them all.

"Give up yet?" Artemis called out.

"No."

Percy raised Riptide and pointed it at the sky and gave a yell. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, surprising Artemis.

"What? When could you-" Artemis stopped as she realized that Percy hadn't summoned lightning. It was a side effect of what he was summoning. The clouds boiled and the sky darkened, a split second later, rain came crashing down on them so hard, Artemis could barely see. Percy meanwhile, was perfectly dry and grinning.

"Son of the Stormbringer, at your service my lady." Percy said before attacking again.

Artemis spluttered and barely managed to block his blows. Even though she was a goddess, this storm was much more intense than any storm Poseidon or Zeus had sent down against the mortals. Well, perhaps the fight with Typhon had created more intense storms… Artemis decided to take a chance and wound her arms back before letting her daggers fly, one at the top and one at the bottom. A mistake.

Percy easily avoided the attack in a way that impressed Artemis. He planted both of his swords in the ground and kicked out with both feet. His body became more or less horizontal to the ground at the same time as both of her daggers flew overhead and his feet smashed into her chest with the force of a lightning bolt. Artemis flew backwards for about 50 feet before plowing to a stop, covered in mud and groaning. She struggled to one knee before it was swept from underneath her, causing her to land face first into the mud. A moment later, she felt a weight on the small of her and felt a sharp point at her neck.

"Defeat?" Percy asked.

Artemis growled before answering. "Yes. I lose. Now get your foot off me, boy."

She struggled to her knees and took deep breaths. She was tired and although she hated to admit it, Percy wore her down like no other. And _damn_ Percy could kick. Her chest _hurt._ _Serve me right for underestimating him…_ Artemis thought grumpily. Percy clapped his hands and the storm stopped. He was breathing heavily too.

"You tired my lady?" Percy asked cheekily.

Well, she certainly still had enough energy to teach him a lesson. "No. I have plenty of energy." Artemis said before hooking her arms around his legs and pulling. To her surprise, he didn't fall to the ground as she expected. Instead, his legs stayed rock steady. She vainly pulled several more times before giving up. Percy chuckled as she cursed in Ancient Greek.

"Damn you Perseus. Now leave me alone. Go prepare the table and dry the hunters. Lunch is ready and I need to go heal. It's all your fault." Artemis grumbled, not caring whether she sounded whiny while preparing to climb to her feet.

"Oh come on my lady, why do it the hard why? Here, let me help." Percy said, bending down and picking up Artemis, surprising both himself and Artemis.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Artemis asked indignantly. Her indigancy lessened greatly however, as she instantly became dry and was enveloped by Percy's warm, strong arms.

"Healing you." Was all Percy said.

"Well, excuse _me,_ but I'm not an old cripple who can't walk back to their own tent!" Artemis said, even though her actions completely betrayed her words. She was snuggling up to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You're wounded." Percy said simply.

"Well, you're wounded too! Shouldn't you take care of yourself first?" Artemis mumbled, her face beginning to turn red.

Percy sat down and cupped Artemis's cheek. She felt her cheek heating up with embarrassment. "Now don't move."

 _"I, Perseus Jackson, as Guardian of the Hunt, forfeit my body to receive my Lady Artemis's wounds."_

A brief flash of light, and Artemis no longer felt the ache on her chest from Percy's kick, or the cuts from his sword. Percy however, was coughing badly.

"Perseus! What's wrong? Are you alright?" Artemis asked worriedly, sitting up and touching his cheek. She could see streams of blood running down his arms and a red stain was forming on various spots on his body.

Percy shook his head, still coughing. "Oh my gods, my chest _hurts._ "

Artemis grinned. "Serve you right. You kicked me with both of your feet, remember?" Unconsciously, she reached out and tweaked Percy's nose, shocking both of them.

"Uhhh…"Percy said, struggling to get around the fact that Artemis, the maiden goddess, had just tweaked his nose. The hunters were all giggling and Artemis wasn't meeting his gaze. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, they were interrupted. By Apollo.

A burst of golden light filled the arena before dimming down to reveal a teenage dude with a super bright smile.

"Hey little sis, I got an- what the _Hades_ is going on?" Apollo asked, his eyebrows going right up into his hair.

Artemis hurriedly slipped off Percy's lap, struggling to hold back a blush. "Don't call me little sis! I'm older!"

"Yeah…ok." Apollo said, his eyes bouncing back and forth between Percy and Artemis. His gaze suddenly sharpened into a dangerous look for just a split second before returning to its normal, cheerful self. "Hey little cousin, you look a bit injured, what happened?" He asked, gesturing to the streams of blood running down Percy's hand and his slightly red-stained shirt.

Percy got up and stood a little behind Artemis. "Not much. Lost a small fight against Lady Artemis."

Apollo snorted. "That lie would've worked with anyone else except me. I'm the God of Truth remember? And besides, somehow I don't think it was a "small" fight, I saw a huge thunderstorm brewing before I came."

Percy flushed. "Yeah, fine, I had a pretty hard fight with Artemis and I summoned a rainstorm after Artemis started using her powers. Nothing much. Got wounded and that's why I'm bleeding."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "You're too modest. You beat me and you, ahem, _healed_ me, and _that's_ why you're bleeding."

Apollo frowned. "Heal? I didn't know Percy could heal."

"Er, it's nothing. Anyways, what are you doing here Apollo? Or are you here to see why your blessing doesn't work for Perseus?" Artemis asked hurriedly, desperate to change the subject.

"Whaddya mean my blessing doesn't work for Percy? Isn't he shooting bulls-eye's now?" Apollo asked with genuine curiosity.

Artemis laughed. "Quite the opposite. He said that he isn't shooting much better than before."

"There! You see? That's my blessing at work! He's shooting a bit better now!" Apollo said, flashing a brilliant, sarcastic smile. Then his face turned serious. "Really, I don't know. Perhaps you're one of the unlucky ones? There are a select few that were very bad at archery like Percy, and my blessing couldn't work. But perhaps you don't need it, I hear you're pretty good with throwing knives." Apollo said, pointing to Percy's throwing knife sheathes around his stomach and over each shoulder. Percy shrugged.

"But to answer your question sis, Father wants us at Camp Half-Blood in an hour. Important meeting. _Very_ important." Apollo said.

Artemis nodded. "Very well. Tell him we'll be there."

Apollo nodded also. Then he turned to Percy. "Hey Perce, why don't you go fix yourself up? I just refilled and remodeled the infirmary tent, hope you like it." Apollo said, his manner clear that he wanted Percy to leave for a bit. Percy picked it up. His eyes narrowed just slightly before walking off.

Apollo quickly walked over and took Artemis by the arm, moving her out of earshot from the hunters. "What is it?" Artemis asked, slightly annoyed.

Apollo looked at her and for one of the very few times in her life, Artemis saw a deadly serious look in his eyes.

"What were you doing on his lap?" Apollo asked.

Artemis sighed internally although she felt a blush creep onto her face. "It was nothing."

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Nothing? Really? Artemis, usually you literally transform any man within 50 feet of you, and yet you were actually sitting on Percy!" Apollo said in a hurriedly hushed whisper.

"I told you Apollo, it was _nothing._ " Artemis said, her eyes flashing dangerously.

Apollo flinched backwards slightly but did not give up. "You're pulling an Orion, aren't you?"

 _SMACK!_

Apollo grimaced as Artemis slapped him right across the face, hard. "I am _not_ pulling an Orion! I never liked the fool anyways!"

"Oh really? Then how come you were so sad when you shot him?" Apollo asked challengingly.

"Because you tricked me into shooting him!" Artemis said furiously. "I'll tell you this Apollo. I swear on the River Styx that I am beyond glad and forever grateful to you that Orion is dead. Because Orion was just a distraction. I never saw the whole picture, I only saw his goody side. That's why I hate men even more now. But Percy is _nothing_ like him, he is _nothing_ like _anyone_ EVER! I know what good Percy has done, and what very few bad he has done. And his bad wasn't even bad! So don't you _dare_ kill him _._ Now _get out of my sight!_ "

Apollo's eyes widened before he disappeared in a burst of light. Artemis turned around, her fists clenched tight against her side. Whatever happened, she would _not_ have Percy killed. She blushed furiously as she walked back to her hunters. She couldn't believe that she was defending Percy, and she couldn't believe what she had just said.

 _You were only defending him, not admitting that you love him._ Her inside voice told her.

 _I don't love him! He's a…man…_ Artemis faltered, truly unable to think of any other reason.

 _Yeah, you just keep on telling yourself that, but can't you tell he's perfect?"_ Her thoughts shot back.

 _I am the most committed_ Maiden _Goddess ever, and I intend to keep it that way!_ Artemis thought with utter finality. She forced it out her mind as she reached her hunters. Noticing their questioning looks, she waved it off irritably.

"My brother was acting his usual, immature and stupid self." Artemis grumbled. Her hunters nodded, they were mostly used to Apollo popping in and Artemis kicking him out. Percy however, who had just come back from the infirmary, nodded slowly, then noted her blush.

"Then why are you blushing? What did he ask?" Percy asked.

"I'm not blushing. It's not something I would do." Artemis said defiantly, even though she could feel her cheeks burning.

Percy smirked. "Really? Then how come your face is red? Because I don't think you're angry…" Percy said, purposely poking fun at her. Then he thought of something and frowned a little. "That reminds me, since you're a goddess, that means your blood is golden. Then why does your face turn red?"

Artemis ground her teeth together. _I change my mind. I_ hate _Percy Jackson. He's_ ANNOYING! Artemis thought furiously. She forced herself to stay calm and consoled herself by making a mental note to get back at Percy.

"It's a disguise thing. For immortals, just beings that are immortal, they'll always turn red. With gods and goddesses, its' also a disguise thing too, as long as we are in our mortal form. If we were in our divine form, then the disguise is off, obviously. Just imagine a god or goddess getting embarrassed or angry around a group of mortals, and his face turns golden. Not very helpful for blending in." Artemis explained, her lips quirking upwards at the thought of Zeus's grumpy face glowing golden. "Now come on, let's go eat or the food that I prepared is going to get cold."

"About time. I'm starving and I'm dead tired." Percy said, walking alongside Artemis with the hunters around him.

"Speaking of tired, I must say, congratulations Seaweed Brain. Artemis was undefeated until now." Thalia said. The other hunters voiced their agreements.

Artemis harrumphed while Percy grinned. "I was lucky. If I had hadn't used my powers, I don't think I would've won."

"Still, pretty good. But when did you become _this_ good Percy?" Thalia asked curiously.

"Well, you know, you can thank the Amazons. They're great. I learned most of my moves and tricks from them." Percy said.

Thalia snorted. "I already knew that. But anything else?"

"Yeah. The chores that Artemis gave me and the hard time you girls gave me during the beginning of my stay. I think it increased my endurance a lot." Percy said.

"Ha! You see? It was a good thing that I tortured you Perseus." Artemis said triumphantly.

"Yeah, yeah Moon Beam. C'mon, admit it, you only piled the work on me because you wanted to make life hard, not because it would help." Percy said teasingly.

Artemis gave him a glare. "Whatever. Now come on, we're here, and I'm particularly interested in your opinion." She said, walking over to sit at the head of the table. Percy gave a slight sigh as he sat opposite of her and waited as the rest of the hunters sat down.

"So, what do you want me to try?" Percy asked.

"Everything. Seeing as we worked so hard this morning and early afternoon, I decided to prepare a feast." Artemis said. She snapped her fingers and summoned the food that she had prepared, from mashed potatoes and soup to fruit and desserts. And of course, the main course, which was the bear meat that she had gotten from the bear Percy had killed earlier that day. The hunters eyes lit up as they realized that they were eating bear meat, something they hadn't eaten in quite a while. The older ones especially loved the way Artemis prepared them. Percy however, was a true city born and bred guy.

He frowned at the plate in from of him. "I don't mean any disrespect, but um, what type of meat is this? Smells quite good but it doesn't smell like pork or something." Percy said.

"It's bear meat, Perseus. That's what I want you to try out." Artemis said.

Percy looked at the meat, then shrugged. "I could always try something new." Percy said.

He carefully picked up a piece of meat and ripped off a largish piece off it. Artemis looked at him expectantly. "Not bad. Actually, it's surprisingly good." Percy said.

Artemis's eyes flashed. How dare he? _Surprisingly_ good? Did that mean he thought it would taste bad? Artemis picked up a spoon, and dipped it into her bowl of mashed potatoes. She came up with a large spoonful and lobbed it at the unsuspecting Percy, who was happily chewing on the bear meat. It landed with a loud splat, right on his face. Percy gave a surprised yelp as he reached up to wipe most of the mashed potatoes away.

"What was that for my lady?" Percy asked while the hunters giggled. Percy, being the seaweed brain he was, was oblivious to what his words had done, while Thalia rolled her eyes.

Artemis glared at Percy. "What do you mean, it was _surprisingly_ good? And 'not bad'"? Artemis growled.

"Um my lady, look, I was just um,-" Percy stuttered and stumbled under Artemis's intense gaze.

"Um what?" Artemis said, picking up another spoonful of mashed potatoes and aiming it at Percy.

Percy flinched. "Um…" was the only intelligible response he could come up with.

"That's what I thought." Artemis said before she lobbed the spoonful straight at Percy. He managed to duck, but Artemis had expected that. Quick as ever, she picked up the entire bowl of mashed potatoes and threw it Percy before picking up the boat of gravy and tossing it at Percy too. Artemis grinned savagely pleasurable grin as she watched lumps of mashed potatoes and gravy rolled down Percy's body. The stains soon disappeared, thanks to Aphrodite's magic, but the action and the effect was clearly still there.

Percy slowly ran his hand through the thick mass of mashed potatoes mixed with the gooiness of gravy. Then, on an impulsive whim, he picked some up in his hand and flung it straight at Artemis. It hit her with a soft splat on her face, her expression shocked. The hunters abruptly stopped giggling.

Artemis slowly reached up and wiped the mashed potato/gravy mixture off her face. Artemis glared at Percy, who met her gaze challengingly. The hunters watched nervously, the tension growing thicker and thicker to the point you could've cut it with a knife. Suddenly, Artemis smiled a feral smile.

"You. Are. _Dead._ " Artemis said before reaching down, lifting up a bowl of nuts and throwing it right at Percy. Without waiting a beat, she picked up a bowl of soup and threw it at Percy, following her assault with several apples, oranges, pears, grapes, and some sticky sap that was used to dip pear slices in.

Artemis smirked at Percy as she sexily leaned her hip against the table. "What is it Perseus? Your aim is so bad that you can't even throw an object?" Artemis taunted.

Percy was covered in a massive mixture of various food. Soup and sticky sap slowly dripped down his hair as he reached down and picked an apple on, taking a loud bite before tossing the apple backwards and facing Artemis. He held his hand out and a large Dutch Apple Pie appeared from thin air.

"You are _sooo_ on Moon Beam." Percy said. A split-second later, Artemis's face was covered by a large pie. Tracy gave a loud squeal as she grabbed a banana and split it. Then she came up with the best suggestion ever.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Tracy screamed before throwing the banana at Percy. There were screams and yells as food flew all over the place. Fruits, vegetables, pork, bear meat, sauces, ice cream, they all flew through the air to land on someone. At first, the hunters and Artemis piled on Percy before Thalia lobbed a bowl of chocolate ice cream right at Artemis. That started off the whole free-for-all fight and with Percy constantly summoning food, they never had to worry about running out of food.

"Ow!" Percy yelled as Artemis threw an entire bowl of sour cream and managed to cause it to land directly on Percy's head. "Watch it!"

"Make me!" Artemis smirked as she picked up a watermelon that was chopped in half and threw it at Elizabeth, who responded by scooping up a handful of salad dressing and making it splatter all over Artemis. As Artemis tried to duck, Percy took his chance and summoned a bowl of fruit salad and threw the contents at Artemis. She ended up with several papaya chunks in her mouth.

"Hey Percy!" Thalia yelled.

Percy turned around and faced Thalia. "What?"

"CHEESE!" Thalia yelled as she pick up a plate of melted cheese that was intended for nachos and threw it at Percy. It hit him in the chest and splattered all over him as he fell backwards from the force of the plate hitting him. Thalia gave a squeal of laughter but was abruptly cut off as she received a pizza in the face.

"PERCY!" Thalia screamed.

"Not me!" Percy yelled as he raised his hands up.

Thalia heard a giggle and whirled around. "DIANA!"

Diana gave a yell and took cover behind a chair. Thalia looked around for something to throw at Diana but was thrown back by something pretty big. Thalia groaned and shook her head and saw that it was a Guacamole Grande.

"You're lucky I didn't throw it at your head Thals!" Percy yelled triumphant before clapping his mouth shut. Too late.

"JACKSON! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" Thalia screamed.

Ultimately however, after forty minutes of constant summoning, dodging and throwing, Percy collapsed in sheer exhaustion. Shortly afterwards, Artemis and the hunters stopped too, since they were all dead tired. The hunters lay on the ground, with the constant laughter as they threw the food, the addition of using already aching muscles from the heavy training that Percy had given them, their muscles were near cramping as they lay on the ground, ignoring all the various mixtures of food dripping down their bodies.

Artemis however, being a goddess, had a much faster recharging rate, and even though she was tired, she still had plenty of energy to walk around and poke fun at Percy. She walked over to the spread eagled, food covered Percy and flipped him over. She couldn't help but smile at how funny and cute he looked with his hair now half black and half white, thanks to some copious amounts of ice cream in his hair and how his face looked like a colour wheel.

"My, my, Perseus, but your stamina is severely lacking. Tired so soon?" Artemis asked, her eyes shining with mirth as she smiled.

Percy groaned as he saw her. Even with various pieces of food on her face and her hair, she still had the ability to be stunningly beautiful, and added with her smile and her glowing silver eyes, she looked like a perfect goddess. Artemis however, misinterpreted his groan as a groan of weariness, which he was, but that wasn't what he was groaning about. Her expression turn to one of worry.

"Percy? Are you alright?" She asked, reaching down and tenderly wiping away a bit of sour cream on his face.

It took all of Percy's willpower not to flinch, since it was extremely disconcerting to know that Artemis, known for hating men, was wiping a bit of his face off. He was suddenly extremely glad that most of his face was still covered in stains, since he was positive that he was blushing furiously. He shifted his hand and grinned at Artemis.

"I'm fine. Just tired. But I still have plenty of energy for fun." Percy said, right before he summoned a cupcake and tried to shove it into Artemis's face. Tried to. Artemis however, was expecting and grabbed Percy's hand before shoving it into Percy's own face. Percy coughed and spluttered. Artemis smirked as she lightly slapped his face.

"Payback. Do you really think I'd be that stupid? Please, I thought you knew me better than that." Artemis said.

Percy grunted as he wiped his face off. "I don't think I'll ever know you, Moon Beam." Percy said as he stood up and surveyed the hunters lying on the ground and the absolute mess they had created.

There was literally no single piece of edible or distinctive food around anymore. The ground was a sea of colours, even though Percy did see a noodle lying around, intact. Percy turned to Artemis and grinned. "We all look like a mess eh? Think you can clean us up?"

Artemis glared at him. "You're the Guardian, so you're supposed to clean it up. But I'll clean up just this once." Artemis said. She clapped her hands and sent a cloud of silver magic to envelope everyone. There was a brief flash and everyone and everything was spick-and-span. The hunters laughed as they stood up.

"We haven't had this much fun since _ages!_ " Christy said cheerfully, walking over to Percy and giving him a hug. "Thanks for all the fun Seaweed Brain."

Percy was touched. "You're welcome. But you should really thank your mistress; it was because she was so angry that it happened." Percy said, throwing a smirk in her direction.

Artemis rolled her eyes and was about to offer a snappy retort when she caught sight of the sky. The sun had fallen down a bit and she realized with a shock that they had spent almost forty-five minutes having a food fight. And what had Apollo said? _Father wants us there in an hour. An important meeting._ Very _important._ Crap.

"Ok everyone, we need to go to Camp Half-Blood right now, we only have fifteen minutes to get there, so come on, let's go." Artemis said.

"Alright, but don't you think we should change clothes?" Thalia asked.

Artemis frowned slightly. "Why?"

Thalia grinned an evil grin. "We need to make a big impression in them right? We can scare the crap out of them. With Percy, we'll be expected to be badass. Don't you agree? Percy agrees, right?" Thalia said. Percy nodded his agreement.

"Changing clothes? We'll be late." Artemis said.

Thalia shrugged. "Dad is too used to people obeying is exact orders, so it won't hurt to not obey it every once in a while. Besides, we can be _fashionably_ late." Thalia said, a rebellious light glinting in her eyes.

Artemis couldn't help but smile. That was one place where Percy and Thalia both had in common. They were rather rebellious and didn't really quite like to obey rules, even though Percy was even more out of line, seeing as he'd turned down godhood twice in Zeus's face.

"Alright. You girls change first, and we'll judge." Artemis said.

Thalia grinned. "No problem. The best ones are the ones Aphrodite gave us first." Thalia said triumphantly. She turned to her fellow hunters. "Come on, we need to dress up and kick ass."

A short instant later, they were done and Artemis, along with Percy, was surveying them. Like Thalia said, they were wearing the exact same clothing as the ones Aphrodite had given them first, to see whether they liked it. And Artemis had to admit, with her girls dressed like this, they were sure to intimidate anyone. Phoebe, with her brutal skull-designed shirt and black pants with blood red stripes down each side. Artemis winced slightly at Thalia's outfit.

She was wearing the same black shirt with a lightning bolt-hit skeleton, but her leather jacket seemed to have change slightly, where they flanged outwards at the shoulder, very similar to Percy's jacket. Her skull earrings and many chains glinted and flashed in the sun, which only emphasized her black eyeliner and blood red lipstick. Her black boots were the same too, flat-soled and she knew that it had a hard tip. Good for running and kicking. Artemis noted two new additions however. On both wrists, Thalia was wearing black cuffs that had dulled spikes on the outside and she was also wearing black fingerless gloves. Artemis frowned when she saw them.

"I like the outfit Thalia. It's very intimidating for those weaklings at Camp, but what's with the fingerless gloves and dull-spiked wrist cuffs?" Artemis asked.

Thalia grinned. "These dull-spiked wrist cuffs are great for brutalizing a boy's face. And the fingerless gloves, well, they just look good with this outfit. Besides, it'll protect my hands a bit if I have to grab something."

Percy snorted. "Yeah right. I think you like the fingerless gloves because you want to wear gloves also pick your nose." Percy said, smirking slightly as several hunters giggled.

Thalia gave Percy a death glare which, in addition to her bright blue eyes and black eyeliner, looked scary. Percy flinched a little. "Good to know that my stare hasn't degraded. Now, go change."

Percy chuckled. "As bossy as ever, eh Pinecone Face?" Percy said, giving Thalia a light slap on the arm as he walked past her to his tent. Thalia rolled her eyes but her lips quirked into a smile.

"I wonder what Dad wants to talk about?" Thalia asked Artemis.

Artemis shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe he just wants a report of how Percy is doing?"

"Yeah right. He'd call us to Olympus then. Maybe Dionysus is being relieved of his duties at that camp and Dionysus wants us to party?" Thalia wondered aloud.

Artemis shrugged again. "Perhaps. Even though I've had enough of fun today."

Thalia opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Percy coming back. Percy walked in and turned to face them all.

"So. How do I look?" Percy asked.

Everyone was speechless. Not having seen Percy wear his original clothing for more than three months, it shocked her as much as it had when she had first seen it. His black shirt with the faceless winged figure surrounded by a faint halo of light with the words 'GUARDIAN' above it and the word 'ANGEL' below it filled her with pride for some strange reason. His black jacket and pants were as atrocious as ever, what with the chains that covered his pants and jackets, glinting a deadly silver. She knew, from what Tracy had said, that at least one of the blades had tasted blood. His throwing knives were as intimidating as ever, a cluster of them on his belt alongside his dagger and the three throwing knives across each shoulder. She also noticed that he was wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, and Artemis guessed that Percy had allowed his eyes to be flames, since his sunglasses were glowing.

"Good." Artemis said. Her hunters nodded their agreement, feeling immensely proud of their "Big Brother."

Thalia grinned. "We walk in there like that, they'll think we're twins. You need to differentiate yourself, so make sure you go in with open wings."

"Of course. In fact, I have my own plan of entering the camp. But we're running late, so I'll tell you about it when we're going there. Artemis, your turn." Percy said, grinning at her.

"Ugh fine." Artemis grumbled. She teleported into her tent and went straight to her wardrobe, searching for the suit/jacket combo that Aphrodite had given her. She found it and couldn't help but smile when she saw the vine and leaf designs on her pants. The silvery designs contrasted hugely with the black colour and looked amazing. Being a goddess, she merely thought of changing her clothing to the one in front of her and it happened. She looked in the mirror and had to admit to herself, she looked great. Her silver shirt was still a bit tight against the body, but she really liked the moon design on it, so she decided not to do anything about it. The silver suit/jacket gave her complete flexibility and the silver greatly enhanced her eyes and the two chains that glinted on either side of her jacket was perfect. She looked adoringly at her pants, since she really loved the vine and leaf designs on it. All in all, she looked like a women going to a formal party, but there was one thing that ruined the image, changing it into a battle ready women. Well, two things. Her throwing knife sheathes, one over each shoulder. Each could hold up to three knives, and to her surprise, it looked as intimidating on her as Percy's own.

Right as she was about to teleport back, she decided to dab on a bit of lip gloss. She blushed as she did so, but she felt like it. It made her lips sparkle, and she told herself that she was doing it because she wanted to experiment, not impress Percy. She teleported herself back and smiled at them all.

"So, what do you think?" Artemis asked, looking at their reactions. Her hunters looked shocked, while Percy looked surprised beyond belief. "Well?"

"Um, you look great my lady. Fantastic. Er, especially the dagger sheathes. Haven't seen you in this outfit since, what, three months ago right?" Percy managed to force out as he struggled to hold back a blush. She looked absolutely amazing, a thousand times more beautiful than Aphrodite and even Calypso. Her silver suit enhanced her flawless, smooth white skin and her glowing silver eyes. The black pants with vine designs looked great, emphasizing her athletic legs. Percy blushed as he looked at her shirt. It was pretty tight and showed off the fact that despite being a maiden, she had a pretty curvy figure. Her lush auburn hair flashed in the sunlight and her rosy-red lips glittered.

"Yeah, you look amazing Artemis. I think Aphrodite will be very jealous of you." Thalia smirked, throwing a sly look at Percy. The hunters laughed, but all of them were also throwing sly glances at Percy and Artemis.

If Artemis saw, she didn't comment. "Alright everyone, now don't move." She said. She snapped her fingers and everyone disappeared in a flash of light. A instant later, they reappeared at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill.

Percy frowned. "Why teleport?"

"Well, why not?" Artemis shot back.

"Doesn't it take energy? And besides, I haven't told you what I planned to do." Percy said.

"Yes, it takes energy, but I'm not _quite_ ready to taint my chariot with your disgusting male scent." Artemis replied, causing her hunters to chuckle. "And you can tell us your plan right now."

Percy shrugged. "Fair enough. Well, I'm going to circle from above so I can make an… _dramatic_ entrance. And when you see Zeus, please tell him not to reveal my identity. I will reveal it as I see fit. Thank you." Percy said.

Artemis nodded. "No problem. I'll just send a small firework into the sky then, shall I? As a signal for you to come down."

Percy nodded. "Roger." He extended his wings and shot off into the air, going so high that he was a barely perceptible speck in the sky.

Artemis turned to her hunters. "Well, let's do this, shall we?"

Phoebe grinned. "Yeah. Let's go kick some ass."

Artemis gave an internal groan. Ever since Thalia had joined the Hunt, they'd become a lot more modernized, especially in language. She walked up the hill, her Hunters behind her in a phalanx formation, and walked past Peleus, who cowered away from her. They walked into Camp, their footsteps silent. Artemis noticed that the Camp seemed unusually quiet, there was no one yelling, no clanging of swords, no laughter, and the climbing wall was empty. She probed ahead and found a large concentration of power in the amphitheater, which could only belong to the Olympians.

"Unusually quiet. Must be a pretty big meeting. Any idea where it is, my lady?" Thalia asked, her hand hovering near one of her chains.

"The Amphitheater. Large concentration of power there. Follow me." Artemis said. They continued walking in silence until they neared the amphitheater. They could see all the campers there, sitting on the ground as Artemis saw her fellow Olympians sitting on chairs, waiting. Waiting for her. As they were about to enter, she saw two heavily armored guards standing at attention, their swords sheathed. As they got close, one stupidly drew his sword and stepped forward.

"Halt! No one is allowed past this-" Was as far as he got before Thalia unhooked her chain and leaped forward, sweeping the guard's legs from underneath him with her chain. As he fell to the ground, Thalia jumped up and landed hard on the guard's chest with enough force to crack the celestial bronze armour and badly bruise the guard's chest. The guard gave a wet scream as blood filled his throat. Mercilessly, Thalia reached down and pulled the guard up, then curled her foot to her body, charged her foot with electricity, and kicked out, letting go of the guard as her foot connected with the guard's stomach. It was a move Percy had taught her, and it was extremely effective. Added with her electric charge, it was even more powerful. The guard yelled as he flew through air to land in a giant cloud of dust, unable to stop shaking from the shock he got as he landed. Seconds later, unconsciousness overtook him.

"Hey! Who the-" the other guard yelled as he stepped forward drawing his sword, but was interrupted by Phoebe. She grabbed the guard's arm and bent the arm in the exact opposite way it was supposed to be bent. There was a wet crack and scream as his elbow broke, his arm bending in the wrong direction. Coldly, Phoebe wrenched the helmet off his head before bashing his skull, instantly knocking him out. A loud _clong!_ was heard Phoebe bashed his skull. Phoebe tossed the dented helmet away.

"That should teach you to underestimate Lady Artemis and insult my brother, Percy Jackson." Phoebe spat at him.

Artemis chuckled as she walked forward, Thalia and Phoebe falling into position with proud smirks on their faces. All of the campers were watching them with a healthy dollop of fear and awe, and she caught a lot of boys staring at Thalia, although they flinched away instantly when she turned her evil eye to them. All the gods were staring at her in shock, obviously wondering why she was wearing clothes like this. Zeus looked absolutely dumbfounded. Aphrodite however, was smiling like crazy. Athena was the least surprised looking one, so Artemis sent her the message.

 _Tell the rest that Percy does not wish to have his identity revealed until he wants to. We can address him as The Guardian._ Artemis spoke telepathically to Athena.

 _Will do._ Athena replied.

Artemis stood in the center and slowly turned around, surveying the crowd with her sharp silver eyes. What she noticed first was a group of campers sitting separate from the rest. There were eight of them. She recognized them as Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Reyna and Annabeth. She glared at Annabeth as she felt anger begin to boil inside her. She also noticed that Thalia seemed to be having a death-glare contest with Annabeth too. She looked away lest she reveal her divine form, which would be disastrous. She turned to the next camper, who was sitting a little ways off from the seven. And actually growled when she saw him. It was Matthew, that pompous, disgusting, perverted, brainless pile of horse manure. He was dressed up in full ceremonial armour, as befitting his role as "Guardian" of the Camp. Ridiculous. He seemed to be angry and glaring at something however, and Artemis turned to where he was glaring and realized what it was.

About half of the campers were wearing Percy Jackson shirts and the other half were wearing shirts that had the initials M.G. monogrammed onto various parts of their clothing. She noticed that most of the Percy Jackson supporters were older campers, and a few she recognized, such as the Stoll brothers and, to her surprise, Clarisse LaRue. She had thought they hated each other, but perhaps in extreme circumstances, Clarisse supported Percy. She did however, see quite a few young campers, which was a good sign. Artemis chuckled slightly as she realized that the entire Aphrodite and Athena cabins were wearing Percy Jackson shirts. Having finished her survey, she turned to her Father.

"Hello Father. Forgive me for being a little late. We had some…business to attend to." Artemis said. _Yeah, a food fight was business, haha._ Artemis thought wryly.

"Umm, of course, erm, of course not, we ah, we weren't waiting that long anyways." Zeus said, fumbling over his words as he stared at the amount of chains on Thalia's clothing. "Go take your seat, dear." Zeus said, waving to a large, silver, comfy-looking chintz armchair.

Artemis nodded. She was about to walk over when Zeus stopped her again. "That reminds me, where is The Guardian?" Zeus asked.

Instantly, the campers began whispering amongst themselves when they heard about 'The Guardian.' They quieted down however, when Artemis spoke.

"Oh, he's coming. Right now." Artemis said, grinning. She raised a finger and shot a silver spark into the air, making it explode when she deemed it was high enough. She looked into the sky and saw the black speck that was Percy. She saw it fly downwards, and an instant later, a dull boom was heard and the ground shook slightly. She saw the white cloud disappearing and smiled as she recognized a sonic boom. Percy flew so fast that it looked like he had _appeared_ from a white portal and a moment later, he slammed into the ground with a crash, shaking the ground as a wall of flame and dust blew outwards from him. Small screams of terror could be heard among the crowd as the flames dissipated.

Percy was crouched on the ground in the middle of a crater, scorch marks emanating from the crater like sun beams. He slowly stood up to his full 6'5" height and stretched his wings to their full length. He had put the hood that was attached to his shirt up and with the shadow it cast across his face, he looked scary, especially with his black sunglasses covering his glowing eyes. Heat rolled off him like a furnace. He slowly turned to Artemis before snapping his wings shut, a sound that made all the campers flinch as one. He raised a clenched fist and crossed his chest with it, bowing at a precise 45 degree angle to Artemis. Artemis fought hard to hold back a smile, since she felt impossibly proud of Percy.

"My Lady." Percy said as she straightened up.

Artemis dipped her head slightly. "Glad you could be here, Guardian. Come, I don't think we should let Lord Zeus wait anymore." Artemis said, teleporting to her chair and sitting down in it, taking especial pleasure at crossing her legs, since the silvery vine designs flashed as she did so. Her hunters sat down, surrounding the space around her. Percy was about to walk over when Hestia stood up. She walked over to Percy.

"Hello my Champion. Haven't seen you in quite a while. Aren't you going to give your patron a hug?" Hestia said, a warm and playful smile on her face.

Percy smiled. Hestia had been one of the first to comfort him and had given him her gifts. "Of course I will Lady Hestia." Percy said, pulling her into a tight hug. Artemis smirked slightly as she saw the campers expression of shock and awe. Hestia was now back into the Olympian council and having her so plainly favour "The Guardian" was a big sign in the campers' eyes. Hestia pulled back and gave Percy a last smile before walking back to her chair.

"Aren't you going to give me a hug too?" Aphrodite practically squealed, eagerly leaning forward in her chair. Percy raised an eyebrow at her.

"No thanks. I don't want to smell like a perfume shop." Percy said, causing the gods to chuckle. Aphrodite sat back down with a disappointed look on her face. Percy grinned as he stood in front of Zeus.

"Think you could beat that type of entrance, O God of Theater?" Percy asked jokingly, waving his hand to indicate the crater.

The gods laughed and even Zeus boomed a laugh. "You bet Guardian. I'll find a way to best any type of theatrics, mark my words." Zeus said.

Percy bowed. "I expected nothing less, Lord Zeus." He turned to Poseidon and gave him a light slap on the arm. "Cheer up Lord Poseidon, everything will be handled today." He said. Percy's eyes seemed to pulse as he said so. Poseidon, who had looked rather glum, instantly cheered up as he stood up and pulled Percy into a man-hug. He slapped his back.

"I look forward to it." Poseidon said, his eyes giving him a meaningful look. Artemis shot a look at Matthew and felt deep pleasure as Matthew's face twisted in anger and jealously. Artemis smiled thinly. This was going to be a fun day.

"Lord Hades," Percy said, turning to Hades, "I trust everything is alright in the Underworld now?" Percy asked.

Hades nodded, then extended his hand. "Everything is going along splendidly. She is a fantastic judge, and quite strict with her fellow judges. But don't worry, she is very happy with her post, and so is he." Hades said as Percy shook his hand.

Percy smiled. "I'm glad to hear that Lord Hades and thank you." Percy turned and walked over to Artemis.

There were gasps of surprise from the crowd of campers as Percy sat on the arm of the chair. Artemis looked at the crowed and fought the urge to laugh. If they were surprised when Hestia hugged Percy, it was nothing compared to now. Practically everyone's eyes were bugging out, especially Annabeth and the others sitting in the center of the amphitheater. Artemis knew what they were thinking. _Artemis, the Leader of a group of girls who hated boys, letting a man sit right next to her?_ Thing was, Artemis really didn't mind Percy sitting next to her at all, in fact, she felt strangely comfortable when Percy near her. It felt like she had someone she could truly trust, which in turn annoyed her. She really shouldn't be feeling this way about a man, and especially about Percy. He was endearing and hard enough to resist without this new addition. She would have thought more but hastily pushed it out her mind, since she didn't want Aphrodite to pick up.

Zeus cleared his throat. "Well, everyone here knows what I'm talking about except for you, Artemis. So I'll give you the long story in a short version. Basically, the council has, after some discussion, agreed to relieve Dionysus of his duties here as Camp Director, although he'll still live here since he's become rather attached to this camp. We have agreed to make these demigods immortal because of the great deeds they have done, and they shall also take over Dionysus's post and train the younger demigods. We have agreed with Hades wishes to not bind Nico to his camp so he can be his father's Lieutenant." Zeus said, indicating Jason, Reyna and the others. "Do you agree?"

Artemis turned and looked at the demigod heroes. Jason, fine. Piper, surprisingly different Aphrodite child, so yes. Leo, well, he was a outrageous flirt but he hadn't broken any hearts. Yet. So perhaps. Nico, well, fine, since he was like a brother to Percy. Hazel, no problem. She reminded her of Bianca, so Artemis had no trouble with Hazel becoming immortal. Frank, a surprisingly different son of Mars, and close friend of Percy, so she was fine with that. Reyna was a definite yes, she knew how to fight and she knew what was right and what was wrong. Annabeth… Artemis glared at her, sorely tempted to say 'No' before reminding herself that despite the fact she dumped and broke Percy, Annabeth did deserve immortality. Everyone had flaws after all and she was still a virgin. Alright then.

Artemis turned to Zeus. "I agree…on most parts. There are some I am rather…reluctant to say yes, but in the end, yes, I agree."

"I don't." Percy said. Everyone froze and turned to Percy, who was still sitting on the arm of Artemis's chair.

Dionysus glared at him. "Why?"

Percy pointed to Jason. "If Jason is to become immortal, I think Thalia should become a full immortal too. That's only fair."

Zeus let out a booming laugh while Thalia had a triumphant smile on her face. Thalia stood up and embraced Percy.

"Awww, that's so sweet of you Brother. But there really was no need." Thalia said before pulling back from a confused looking Percy and sitting back down with the hunters.

Zeus turned to look down at Thalia. "Well Thalia my dear, it turns out you win our little bet."

An equally confused Artemis turned to Thalia. "Wait, you knew about this already? How?"

"Forgive me my lady, but Dad sent me a dream last night, asking whether I wanted to become a full immortal. He told me to tell no one. And I declined, because that means that I'd be the oddball in the Hunt." Thalia said, smiling at her grinning comrades. "And then I said that he had no need to ask me when I was sleeping, since The Guardian would point out the "unfairness". Dad didn't believe it, so I made a bet with him. And I won."

"So what do you want me to do then?" Zeus asked resignedly.

Thalia grinned and gave Zeus a sly look. "I want you to… stop dressing in suits and wear clothes like a normal American. The suits are feeding your ego and Fates knows it's big enough."

Zeus sighed and put his face in his palm, whispering just loud enough for his brothers, Hera, Artemis, Percy and the Hunters to hear. "I swear that some of young Perseus's boldness has rubbed off onto you." Artemis and the hunters chuckled. "Very well, I shall honour our bet. Aphrodite?" Zeus announced, looking at Aphrodite expectantly.

Aphrodite squealed and snapped her fingers. A white mist covered Zeus before clearing to reveal a much different Zeus. Instead of the stern, grumpy looking Zeus, there was now a very casual looking Zeus. He was wearing a deep blue, open collared flannel t-shirt and jeans, with shiny new Adidas on his feet instead of formal dress shoes. Zeus looked down at his clothing before uncertainly moving his arms about.

"I suppose it feels…comfortable?" Zeus said, still uncertain.

Poseidon laughed. "Of course it's comfortable! If it weren't comfortable, I wouldn't be wearing something similar to that, would I?"

Zeus shrugged. "I suppose. Now, let's get on with immortalizing our young heroes here!" Zeus seemed very excited that _his_ son was becoming an immortal. "Everyone, close your eyes and don't look until we tell you. Of course, if you want a one way trip to Hades realm, then go ahead and look, other than that, _don't look._ " Zeus said sternly.

All the Olympians stood up, wreathed in auras of power. They raised their hands and sent streams of golden light at the eight demigods in the center, to replace mortal blood with golden ichor, preparing their bodies for immortality, to stop the body from aging and protecting the body from any type of sickness and increasing the healing factor. The air around the Olympians sizzled with power and the ground began shaking slightly. Abruptly, they stopped as one and sat back down.

"Alright, you can watch now." Zeus barked. Instantly, everyone opened their eyes and watched. The eight demigods didn't look much different, other than the fact that a golden glow was surrounding them.

"Do each of you swear on the River Styx to protect this camp, to train the young demigods, to always help the demigods in need, and to obey orders from the Olympians?" Zeus thundered.

Each of them bowed except Nico."We swear." They said as one. Thunder boomed and the oath was made.

"Do you, Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades, swear on the River Styx to remain forever loyal to your father and help your father whenever he requires?" Zeus literally yelled.

Nico bowed. "I swear."

"Take a bite of our ambrosia and a drink of nectar." Zeus ordered, waving his hand and causing a plate of it to appear in Jason's hands.

Jason looked surprised but recovered quickly before taking a square of ambrosia and a drink of nectar. He then passed it to Piper, who did the same and passed it to Leo, and on until each of them had taken a bite of ambrosia and a drink of nectar. Zeus waved his hand and it disappeared. He summoned his Master Bolt and pointed it at the demigods, each of them flinching involuntarily at the sight of it.

"Then I proclaim you eight demigods as the Immortal Campers of Camp Half-Blood!" Zeus roared. He sent a blast of lightning and power from his master bolt to strike the eight demigods. There was a bang and an extremely bright flash of light that forced everyone to look away. The light dimmed and the eight Immortal Campers stood there, looking at themselves curiously.

The males looked a bit hotter than before and the females looked more beautiful, but other than that, Artemis couldn't easily make out the fact that they were immortal, unless she used her godly senses.

"Golden ichor now runs through your veins and arteries. Welcome to Immortality, young immortals." Zeus said, clapping his hands. Everyone followed suit and soon the entire camp was cheering like crazy.

Jason raised a hand and the crowd quieted down. "Lord Zeus, Father, I have a question. I truly appreciate this gift, but I must ask, what about Percy Jackson? He deserves this gift far more than any of us. Also, I would like to inquire whether you know where he is located. He is a close friend, and I miss him. My friends do too." Jason said, pointing to his fellow immortals.

They all nodded, but Artemis's trained eye caught a slight smile on Nico's face. _Ah, so Percy revealed himself to Nico during his quest in the Underworld. No wonder he didn't look surprised when Percy arrived._

Zeus opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Matthew. "We don't need him! You guys have _me!"_ Matthew yelled.

Artemis felt Percy and her hunters stiffen. The Immortal Campers also stiffened. Jason turned to Matthew, fury dancing in his blue eyes. "You kicked him out. For no reason." Jason growled, his hand creeping toward his pocket.

"He was too dangerous! As Guardian of this Camp, it was my duty to kick out dangerous campers and he was one of them! Isn't that right, campers?" Matthew roared, standing up. About half the crowd screamed and cheered while the other half booed and hissed. Percy got off Artemis's chair and stepped forward. Artemis reached out and grabbed his hand.

"What are you doing?" Artemis hissed quietly.

"Don't worry. I'm going to teach those poorly educated bunch of numbskulls who's right and who's wrong." Percy replied.

"Don't do anything stupid, Perseus." Artemis said.

Percy smiled and pulled his hand out of hers, calmly walking forward and extending his wings slightly for effect. Everyone instantly quieted down as "The Guardian" stood in front of the Immortal Campers. The air around him rippled and warped as he stared at Annabeth, and Artemis tensed herself for something to happen, but then Percy slowly turned around, examining the whole crowd of campers. He slowly walked around the Immortal Campers before speaking.

"A sad lot, aren't they?" Percy said. "Tell me, anyone, who is this Percy Jackson?"

"He was an idiot camper who believed himself the best warrior this camp has seen." Matthew sneered. "That's bullshit. I beat a couple sea monsters and managed to take down several dracaene without any training."

Percy raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, Percy was never favoured by Poseidon, Matthew was. Matthew was always invited to Poseidon's sea palace, and I can confirm that Matthew killed dracaene without any training. Hell, Percy saw it but he proceeded to beat Matthew up because he was jealous." A huge boy swaggered down from the stands.

"That's not true! Percy was the-" Another voice yelled from the stands, but Percy raised his hands to quiet him down. "And who are you?" Percy asked the boy.

"Bruce, Son of Ares." He said, not even caring to extend a hand to shake. "And Percy was a delinquent punk, a big weakling. I can smash him easily. Hades, I'll bet my life I can smash _you_ easily too, since you hang out with those girls." Bruce sneered. The hunters stiffened and some of them made to stand up but Percy waved them down.

"It's alright sisters. I can take care of it." Percy said.

Bruce smirked. "Yeah? I'd like to see you try."

Percy stood there for a second before he punched Bruce's face six times in less than two seconds and then kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. Percy leaped into the air and slammed his foot right onto Bruce's face, crushing his skull as easily as crushing a grape. Bruce's skull burst like a melon, brain matter and blood splattering the ground. Percy calmly withdrew his foot from the mess and wiped it on Bruce's clothes.

"The world has enough nasty boys like you. We don't need another one." Percy said coldly. The crowd and the immortal campers gasped in shock at how easily "The Guardian" kill Bruce, and how brutal his death was. Ares looked at Percy before giving a noncommittal grunt and a shrug.

Matthew gaped at Percy before recovering himself enough to start yelling like an idiot. "How dare you kill a camper like that! Who do you think you-?"

"ENOUGH!" Annabeth screamed, her sharp voice lashing through the air. Matthew stopped. He'd experienced Annabeth angry, and he had no wish to do so again.

"This is going nowhere. We'll talk about your behavior later, Guardian, but I know the answer to your question, Jason." Annabeth said.

Percy gave her a mocking smirk while Jason looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"How do you know where Percy is?" Jason asked, disbelief in his voice.

Annabeth ignored him and walked up to Artemis. She was about to speak when Thalia walked straight up to her.

"How do you know where Percy is?" Thalia asked coldly.

"I saw him." Annabeth replied, equally as cold.

"You saw him, and you didn't do anything. Can you get any worse, Chase?" Thalia snarled.

Annabeth's lips thinned into a line. "No, of course I couldn't say anything because I didn't want to _interrupt_."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Alright. But I've always wanted to do this, ever since I heard you broke up with Percy." Thalia said.

"Yeah? What's that?" Annabeth asked challengingly.

"This." Was all Thalia said before she smacked Annabeth's face with all the strength in her arm. The crowd gasped as Annabeth staggered backwards, the force of Thalia's slap sending her reeling. She held her cheek as she spat golden blood out.

"You-You dare? Have you forgotten what we all went through?" Annabeth screamed at her.

"Oh I haven't. But you're not Annabeth anymore; the Annabeth _I_ knew wouldn't dump a guy as good as Percy." Thalia shot back.

Annabeth had a sad look in her eyes before they were replaced by anger again. "Look, I regret what I did, it's true that when they say you never know what you lost until it's gone, but if you want to cut your ties with me, then I'll cut my ties and spill your secret out too!" Annabeth yelled.

"That's fine with me! It's not like I have any secret that I care about! And besides, I don't want to be friends with a slut!" Thalia screamed back.

"Oh yeah? How do you know that I might not know a secret that you think you kept under cover so well?" Annabeth growled.

"Bring it on Chase! You think I'm afraid!" Thalia hissed.

Annabeth smirked. "So be it. Lady Artemis, I think you should know that Thalia hasn't given up on boys yet." Annabeth said, throwing a savage look at Thalia, who replied with a stoic expression.

Artemis knew what Annabeth was going to say so she decided to play along with her little game. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Tell me then, I'm always interested in what my Hunters are doing." Artemis said calmly, sending a reassuring thought to Thalia.

Annabeth looked around before dropping the bombshell. "You're Lieutenant has fallen for my ex-boyfriend, Percy Jackson." Annabeth said with a triumphant smile.

Shocked silence. Zeus was about to yell when he realized that Artemis had a slight smile on her face, Aphrodite was smirking, Athena was rolling her eyes and the huntresses were laughing. Annabeth seemed taken aback, seeing as this wasn't the reaction she was expecting.

"So? Let's just assume that I am "in love" with Percy, what do you expect? You dumped him, he's officially up for grabs." Thalia said, smirking.

Annabeth looked shocked. "Per-perhaps for other people, but you were my friend then, you should have helped get me and Percy back together!" Annabeth exclaimed, stuttering slightly.

Thalia sighed and shook her head. "You know what I noticed Annabeth? You're selfish. You always think that you're right, and you think that people should give you what you want. You're not spoiled, but you _are_ very selfish. Like during the Sea of Monsters, remember you told me? You told me that you wanted to travel near the Sirens, because you wanted to experience it, even though you knew it was dangerous. And Percy agreed. Then it ended up where Percy had to _rescue_ you. That's your problem Annabeth, besides hubris. You're too selfish, and Percy is too selfless. You think you can dump Percy, go out with another guy, then decide that that guy is too boring or whatever, and then you come back, expecting Percy to be here for you. _That's not how life works._ Percy bended the rules and pushed the boundaries quite a bit, but even _he_ has a limit." Thalia said, turning around to throw Artemis and her fellow hunters a wink. She turned back to Annabeth. "The thing is Annabeth; Percy is too good for you. Which brings about the question, why did you come back?"

Annabeth stiffened. "I had originally wanted to call it quits with him because I missed Percy. I realized my mistake, and I really needed Percy at my side. And I-I was going to find some way to break the news to him."

Thalia arched an eyebrow. "You speak in the past tense. What happened? Did he cheat on you? Serve you right if he did."

"No he didn't! He would never do that! He was…killed." Annabeth said, her eyes flicking to Poseidon and Athena.

"Huh. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I think death would've been better for him than for you to tell him that you want to break up with him. Do you realize something again? You're being selfish again. You dump Percy because of some bullshit, then you hook up with a mortal, and when you decide you'd had enough, you dump him and want to come back to Percy. That's overly selfish Annabeth. And here I was thinking that you and Percy had been together for a little more than five years and his selflessness would've rubbed off. Come to think of it, why did you dump Percy anyways?"

Annabeth ground her teeth in anger. "Ok fine, maybe I was a bit selfish, but what about you and Percy? You're a Hunter, and look what happens!" Annabeth yelled. "And why doesn't Artemis even care?"

Percy gave a cold laugh. "Don't you dare talk about Artemis that way, Annabeth Chase. As for Thalia's and Jackson's relationship, well, it's true, Thalia and Percy love each other, but not in the way you think. They're brother and sister in all types of bonding except blood. If you don't believe me, you can ask Aphrodite." Percy said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to point at Aphrodite. He found it highly amusing that he was talking about himself. Thalia winked at him while Artemis grinned.

Annabeth looked at him in shock and a bit of apprehension. "And how do you know this?"

"I know many things, girl. And you would do well not to push me." Percy growled, his eyes glowing. "For a Daughter of Athena, you are unbelievably dense."

"Hey look here, while I'm not happy about Annabeth breaking up with Percy, at least _she_ doesn't kill people like you." Jason snarled, his sword in his hand.

"That's right. Killing someone like that is brutal, and Percy always spared his enemies life. That was the honourable way. Not just killing someone without a second thought." Frank said, boldly stepping up next to Jason and glaring at Percy.

Percy shrugged. "That wasn't dishonourable. He bet his life on it, and I do not joke around. I took his words and fulfilled them. He lost, so he loses his life. Simple as that." Percy said coldly.

Annabeth growled. "Nothing is that simple and I grow tired of your mockery, _Guardian._ You want some?" Annabeth snarled, drawing her dagger.

Percy smirked. "Bring it on and we'll see how poor your skills are." Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see all of them coming up to surround him in a circle. However, he saw Nico hang near the back, giving him a discreet thumbs up sign as he left his sword sheathed. Percy mentally calculated on the ones he had to be wary of, which was Jason, Annabeth and Reyna. Frank too, since he could change shape. Percy decided to dual wield, using a dagger and throwing knives. He didn't dare take Riptide out, since it'd blow his cover instantly. The nice thing about being surrounded was that the attackers could only attack two at a time, at most. Anymore, and they'd cut themselves to pieces.

"You have one chance to back out of some public humiliation, Guardian." Reyna said, her eyes narrowed as she kept a careful eye on his movements. Jason crept closer, his sword sparking with electricity. Annabeth had the same old dagger she had used for ages, Leo was wielding two flaming ball-peen hammers, Frank had transformed his hands into bear claws, Hazel with her _spatha,_ and Piper with Katoptris.

"No? Well, I must say that as a Roman, I admire your courage. No fatal strikes, but any other wounding is allowed." Jason said.

Percy nodded and unsheathed his dagger before flipping it over into an icepick grip and setting it on fire. Green flames licked across the blade and dripped on the ground, hissing. Percy grinned. This was going to be fun trying out his new combos.

Annabeth snorted when she saw his icepick grip. "That grip," she said, pointing at his dagger, "is used for beginners."

"We'll see." Was all Percy said before he leapt at Frank, the hilt of his dagger hitting Frank's temple, hard enough to instantly knock him out, but light enough to give him nothing worse than a headache. In one smooth motion, he pivoted on his heel and took a throwing knife from his shoulder, throwing it precisely and causing half of the blade to lodge into Leo's shoulder. He dropped in pain and Percy parried Jason's strike, then kicked him in the solar plexus, completely knocking the wind out of him before whirling around again and throwing another knife, this one hitting Piper's dagger with so much force that Katoptris flew out her hand. He sprang forward and thumped the base of Piper's skull with his elbow, knocking her out before pivoting and hooking Hazel's _spatha_ right out of her hand, sweeping her legs from underneath her. Using both of his hands, he clapped them around Hazel's temples, forcing her into unconsciousness. Completely painless.

He sensed someone coming at him from behind and raised his dagger in time to block a strike from Reyna. They locked blades for half a second before Percy twisted his dagger, causing Reyna's dagger to fall. Reyna's eyes widened but she recovered quickly, she aimed a punch at Percy's face but he deflected it with the palm of his before stepping in and grabbing the front of her shirt and her belt. He lifted her into the air so that she was horizontal to the ground before dropping her. She groaned. He turned to face Annabeth with a triumphant smirk on his face. Six strong demigods down in about ten seconds. True, Jason was struggling to his feet but he was doubled over, wincing with each movement. Leo had taken the dagger out of his, which was easy since Percy had made sure that the dagger would give him a big cut, instead of punching through bone and sticking into his shoulder. Still, he felt guilty about beating his friends up, but that feeling was pushed out of his mind as Annabeth yelled and lunged forward, bring her dagger down in a diagonal slashing motion.

Percy sidestepped forward and left so he was abreast with Annabeth. He brought his dagger up and literally backstabbed Annabeth. As Annabeth gasped in pain, he whirled around; slamming the dagger into the front of Annabeth's left shoulder. He let the dagger go as Annabeth screamed, falling onto her back, a pool of ichor already forming on the ground.

"Hey…"Jason gasped, struggling forward with Leo. Percy looked at them and motioned to Apollo.

"Lord Apollo, please check that they are alright and heal them. Thank you." Percy said as Apollo got out of his chair and went straight to Leo.

Percy stepped over to where Annabeth lay on the ground, trying to get the dagger out of her shoulder. He kicked her hand away before kneeling down next to her.

"This is not even a _fraction_ of the pain you caused me." Percy said.

"W-what…?" Annabeth gasped out, confusion on her face.

Percy reached up, slowly pulling back his hood and folding his sunglasses. Annabeth gasped as she saw her dream person. Or in this case, her nightmare.

"Long time no see, Annabeth Chase." Percy Jackson said in an icy tone. His green eyes were merciless pits of flames.

"Pe-Percy?" Annabeth asked, even more confused than ever. All the campers gasped in surprise. Well, everyone but Nico and the unconscious campers. Nico was standing there, grinning like an idiot while Jason and Leo watched, mouths so wide open, you could've fit a wild boar into it with room to spare.

Percy slowly nodded his head. Then he shook it. "I am. And yet, I am not. To my friends, I am Percy Jackson. But to you, or my enemies, not anymore."

"Why? Why did you do this to me Percy?" Annabeth gasped out, the pain from her wounds were nearly overwhelming her.

Percy's flaming eyes danced with fury. " _Why?_ You have the _nerve_ to ask _why?_ Do you know how much _pain_ you put me through? When I came back from my tasks? To learn that my girlfriend had _left?_ All my work was done for _nothing?"_ Percy hissed.

"Percy I-"

"You didn't even have the _decency_ to tell me the truth! You just said that you had left for architecture. My ass." Percy spat.

"Percy please, I-I just wanted a normal life, a life without the demigodness in it." Annabeth begged.

"You could have told me. You could have told me up front!"

"But Percy, I didn't feel like it until you had left-" Annabeth began.

"Oh so it's now _my_ fault. And how come you can go search and yearn for a mortal life and I cannot? Remember Rachel Elizabeth Dare? You were so jealous of her. Speaking of which, where is Rachel? I think she deserves immortality too." Percy said, looking at Zeus.

Zeus chuckled. "She has declined to come to Camp because of… _personal_ reasons, but she is already immortal. Apollo made her immortal, because Rachel is his most favourite Oracle."

Percy nodded before turning back to look at Annabeth, who was crying from pain, both physical and emotional.

"You never answered Thalia's question. Why _did_ you dump me?" Percy asked.

"Because-because I felt that we weren't as close as we were when you were gone for those eight months. And then after you had defeated Porphyrion, you trained even harder than ever, and you never told me anything. And then you left. And I…I felt like that was the last straw, so I left and met this guy who I thought was perfect. But he wasn't and then I realized that I truly missed you. But by then, it was too late." Annabeth whispered sadly. Suddenly, she grabbed Percy's hand. "Please Percy please; can I just have one more chance? Please Percy." She begged him quietly.

Percy turned his head away and ran a hand through his messy black hair. He would never leave Artemis and the hunters, since he truly loved it there, and he loved Artemis with all his heart. Even if Artemis didn't return his love,-she most likely wouldn't but Percy would keep on trying- he'd never leave her. But despite what Annabeth had done to him, his conscience nagged him for hurting Annabeth with both his words and actions. He sighed. Curse him for being so soft-hearted. Then a funny thought hit him.

"You know, in retrospect, I have to thank you Annabeth. I owe you a big favour, since if you hadn't dumped me, I would never have become Hestia's champion, I would never have learned the truth about Matthew, and I would never have found a family that I love and I trust." Percy said, smiling at Artemis and her hunters, who beamed right back.

He turned back to Annabeth and withdrew his hand, reaching into his pocket. "I've kept this with me for all this time as a reminder of loss and pain. But now, I don't need it anymore. You do. I loved you once before Annabeth, but we're over now." Percy whispered. He took from his pocket the engagement ring that Hephaestus had forged and Athena had given him. He put it in Annabeth's hand and wrapped her fingers around the box.

"For old time's sake." Percy said, as he stood up and bent down to drag Annabeth to where Apollo had rounded up the other still-unconscious campers. Apollo nodded and snapped his fingers, causing Percy's dagger to smoothly slide out of Annabeth. Apollo handed it to Percy, hilt first, which Percy took with a slight bow before sheathing it.

"Percy…" Annabeth whispered.

Percy faced her and performed a small two-finger salute at her, his flaming green eyes staring into her broken gray eyes. "Good-bye Annabeth. Maybe, perhaps, we can still be friends. We'll see." With that, Percy walked off.

"No…" Annabeth cried. Each word that Percy said felt like a hot blade straight into the heart. Soon, the emotional pain became too much for her and she lapsed into unconsciousness.

Percy walked on until he met his target: Matthew.

"It looks like we meet again, Matthew." Percy said.

Matthew snorted. "And it'll end up the same way. You getting kicked out of this camp. So go back and join your lesbian friends, gay boy." Matthew said derisively.

The air around Percy boiled as flames began licking the ground. Suddenly, they disappeared and Percy's face cracked into a grin.

"Gay eh? What's the matter, you jealous?" Percy asked in a taunting voice. The campers laughed. "Or are you _offering?"_ Percy said in a sultry voice, smirking as he did so. This time, even the gods joined in the laughter.

Matthew gave a yell of anger and aimed a kick at Percy. Exactly what Percy wanted him to do. Percy grabbed Matthew's leg and held it up at about chest height, which for Matthew was about head height.

"Thalia! Come join the fun!" Percy yelled, indicating Matthews wide open legs.

Thalia gave a savage grin. "With pleasure." She said. Electricity crackled across her entire body as she walked up to Matthew. Then she charged her foot up with extra electricity before drawing it back and kicking Matthew right in the groin, Percy letting go at impact. An ear-splitting scream was heard as Matthew shot high into the air, electricity coursing through his body.

"Lord Zeus! He's a Son of Poseidon and he's flying without your permission!" Percy yelled as many campers and all the hunters screamed with laughter.

Zeus let out a booming laugh as he raised his Master Bolt and pointed it at the sky. "So he is! And he must be punished!" Zeus yelled as he let loose a blast from his Bolt. A split-second later, a blast of lightning came straight down, hitting Matthew and greatly shortening the time required for Matthew to descend to Earth. Matthew slammed into the ground with a crash, made noisier as his armour cracked. Matthew struggled to get up as he drew a flask of nectar from his belt and began gulping the whole flask down. Finished, he threw it aside and staggered to his feet, waddling from side to side.

"WOW! He managed to survive a kick as bad as that, do you know what that means?" Percy asked dramatically as he turned to Thalia.

"YES! It means he's a male with female body parts!" Thalia screamed, causing everyone to start laughing like crazy.

Matthew gestured into the crowd and two fat boys came running down, barreling straight to Percy and Thalia. Fat Boy No. 1 reached Thalia first, who simply stepped aside and clotheslined the camper. He flipped through the air to land heavily on his back. Thalia allowed him to get back on to his feet before Thalia did an uppercut using her wrist braces to smash his face into a pulp, and while he was reeling, Thalia smashed both of his kneecaps, forcing him to kneel in the completely wrong direction. The boy's face twisted in pain.

"Aww poor idiot, let me help you out of your pain." Thalia said before brutally kicking the boy's chin with her black boots. There was a loud crack as the boys lower jaw was shattered. He crumpled, unconscious before he hit the ground.

Thalia stretched. "Ahhh, good exercise."

The other boy stared in shock before yelling crazily, running straight for Percy. Percy stood there, and just as the boy was about to hit Percy, he raised a clenched fist and punched outwards. The boy hit it and flew backwards, spitting blood. Percy was about to beat him up when he saw the Hunters staring at him. Percy grinned and stepped back.

"MY SIS-TAHS ARE HON-GRAY FOR BEA-TING!" Percy yelled, setting off a chain of laughter at Percy's reference to the movie _The Dark Knight._ Percy bent down and grabbed the boy before throwing him to the Hunters. Without further ado, they all piled him and _really_ began beating the crap out of the boy. 15 seconds later, Artemis herself had to pull her hunters off from killing the boy, as they pulled off, Percy winced at the sight. The boy looked like nothing more than a pile of bloody flesh and bones. He chuckled however, when Apollo went over to heal the boy and Artemis drew an arrow, pointing it at Apollo's head, point-blank until Apollo backed off.

"FATHER! Help me! How can you let this idiot beat me and my friends up?" Matthew screamed.

Poseidon looked up with an apathetic expression. "Matthew, as you know, there are currently some troubles with the mortals and the seas and I'm currently concentrating on them unless you want a tsunami to hit Florida. So shut up. Besides, you're an immortal, you can handle it, hmm?" Poseidon said.

Matthew turned back to Percy with a disgusted snort. "Yeah, I'll handle you myself." Matthew said before drawing his sword. "How're you going to fight? Like your coward mother?"

Everyone froze at this. Thalia backed off hurriedly as flames licked the ground and the heat emanating from him was so great that the campers in the crowd were moving backwards.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about my mother with your filthy mouth." Percy growled as he slowly took a step forward, the ground sizzling where he stepped.

Matthew's eyes showed fear but he gave a yell and lunge forward, swinging his sword. Percy's hands shot out and caught the blade between both hands before he set his hands on fire. Matthew's eyes widened as he desperately tried to wrench his sword out from Percy's grasp, but to no avail. The blade glowed red hot before liquid metal began running down the length of the blade, straight to the hilt. Matthew screamed and jumped backwards, letting go of his sword in the process.

Percy smirked as he slowly crumpled the sword into a ball. Then he intensified the heat until the celestial bronze melted down completely, leaving only two small pools of molten metal in both of his hands. Matthew continued backing up as Percy slowly advanced.

"You want to run? I don't think so. My mother faced her death straight on." Percy whispered. He threw the molten metal in his hands right at Matthew's feet, and before he could take another step, Percy shot a blast of icy water at it, instantly solidifying the molten metal.

Matthew whimpered as Percy stepped right in front of him.

"Not so bold now, are you, you little bastard?" Percy whispered before putting his hand on Matthews chest. His cracked armour instantly began to sizzle as the flames from Percy's hand began melting it.

Matthew yelled and threw a punch. Percy caught the fist in his left hand and set it on fire. The smell of burnt flesh instantly permeated the air as Matthew screamed with the pain of his burning hand and from the molten metal now running down his entire body. Everyone watched in dead silence as Matthew's ceremonial armour began cascading down his body as Matthew continued screaming as his skin and flesh was boiled.

"Please, if you must kill me, kill me now." Matthew managed to gasp out as tears ran down his face.

Percy slowly shook his head. "I'm not feeling merciful when it comes to you."

Percy drew his dagger and began slashing at Matthew body, making sure that each hit was non-fatal. Matthew screamed even louder as the molten metal began entering his body.

"Oh shut up, you whiny baby." Percy growled, scooping up some molten metal and slapping it across his mouth before freezing it with a blast of water. Matthew screamed even harder, but it was severely muffled and sounded as if he were choking. Percy calmly stood back and raised his hands, summoning a large tidal wave. He motioned and the wave crashed into Matthew, solidifying the molten metal and giving Matthew a good dose of water down the nose in the process.

"Let's see how long you can last without food or water, Matthew. I wish you the best of luck." Percy smirked as he stepped back from the metal-covered Matthew. He was still breathing, but barely. His head lolled down as he struggled to take in breaths from his nose. Percy turned to the crowd.

"From now on, you will obey the Olympians, Chiron, and the Immortal Campers. Any other orders from Matthew is now invalid and void. Oh, and you will obey the Hunters too." Percy said before turning his back on them and draping an arm over Thalia, who had watched the entire show with a mix of sick fascination and uneasiness. Together they walked back to Artemis and the hunters.

"Percy… look, I hate Matthew as much as you do. But at least end his life now. Hades will take care of him in Tartarus." Poseidon said.

Percy stopped and motioned for Thalia to move on. "Why should I?"

"Because you know that he didn't kill your mother. He was a pawn, like I was. I won't grudge you the satisfaction of torturing him, but at least give him a quick end." Poseidon said.

Percy frowned slightly before turning to Artemis. "Well my lady? I think you have a say in this matter too."

Artemis seemed to ponder over this. "Well, since I can't turn him into a jackalope anymore, I suppose you might as well kill him. He looks awful standing there, and I don't think this camp needs a reminder that they had such a bad camper." Artemis said.

Percy did his special bow. "Your will, my lady." Percy said, walking back to Matthew.

"It's your lucky day, Matt." He reached up and melted the metal around his mouth, revealing a pair of horribly burnt lips. "Any last words?"

"You want a piece of me? Huh? If you want a piece of me, go ahead." Matthew said.

Percy smiled a smile that sent shivers down Artemis's back. "Thank you. But no, I don't want a piece of you. I want _two_ of you." Percy growled.

Percy's left fist came up as he smashed Matthew's head, at the same time, he unsheathed his dagger and did a fancy flip so he was holding it in a hammer grip. He slammed the dagger right under Matthew's chin, the point of the blade poking through the top of his head. In one smooth movement, he withdrew, flipped it back to icepick grip, and literally ripped Matthew's head off as the point of his dagger entered and exited Matthew's neck.

Golden ichor flew as his head toppled to the ground. It stayed there for just a second before the head and Matthew's body dissolved into a fine golden dust. Percy turned back to Poseidon with a 'satisfied?' look. Poseidon merely rolled his eyes as he smiled distractedly.

"Take care of it, Lord Hades." Percy said. Hades nodded.

Percy walked back to Artemis and stood by her side. Only then did he notice that everyone seemed to be staring at him. Even his supporters were staring at him with fear. Percy frowned and bent down to ask Artemis.

"Why's everyone staring at me like that?" Percy whispered as Zeus began clearing his throat.

Artemis looked at him with an incredulous expression. "You really don't know?" Percy shook his head. Artemis rolled her eyes. "Too brutal. That ripping his head off, too brutal for the campers. They can't stand it and become squeamish. Personally, _I_ liked it. Now quiet, Father's speaking."

"Ahem. Well, now that young Perseus has solved his feud, I can now finish my announcements. Now Artemis, there is another reason why I called you here. I have a mission for you and your Hunt." Zeus said.

Artemis instantly brightened and straightened up. "What is it, Father?" Her eyes gleaming.

Zeus chuckled when he saw the gleam. "Don't be so enthusiastic. This enemy is quite dangerous. Her name is Lamia. She has escaped her prison recently, and I have no doubt that she will begin to do what she does best…" Zeus trailed off.

The other gods paled while Percy looked absolutely mystified.

"Who's Lamia?" he asked.

Athena rolled her eyes. "She's a very beautiful woman who specializes in seducing young men and eating children. In the old days, she had a serpent's tail, but now in the West, she probably appears as a very beautiful young women then. She especially likes eating young demigod children."

"Oh. That's bad. But it can't be that hard to kill her now, can it?" Percy said.

"Well, she's your half-sister, and she's a very skilled fighter. Plus, her skills at seduction is like an _Empousai,_ except about 10 ten times stronger." Artemis replied.

Percy shrugged. "That shouldn't be a problem. Your Hunters are girls, so she won't be able to seduce them."

Artemis sighed. "True, but the trouble is locating them. Sure, we can jump across every major city, but the West is pretty big."

"That's a valid point. I think that the Immortal Campers should take on this mission too." Zeus said, looking over to Apollo, who was currently overseeing the Immortal Campers. All eight of them were conscious, including Nico, who was smirking at his fellow Immortals. Thanks to Apollo's healing abilities, they all looked great, even though they were all warily watching Percy.

"What? But Father, I _like_ working alone, what do you mean you're going to send another team?" Artemis asked indignantly.

"My daughter, I understand. But Lamia can kill many children in a very short amount of time, both demigod and mortal. And that is unacceptable. Besides, it's extra incentive for you to track her down faster eh?" Zeus said.

Artemis sighed. When Zeus was set on something, there was no point in arguing with him. "Very well Father. I shall also make use of this opportunity to show Percy how we work." Artemis said, throwing Percy a glance.

Zeus nodded. He turned to the Immortal Campers. "Jason, you and your friends will start your search for Lamia tomorrow. The Hunters will also, but your group and theirs will work separately. And Chiron," Zeus said, turning to the old and tired looking centaur who was standing next to Dionysus, "I'm afraid we will have to postpone the Capture the Flag games that you usually have. At least until Lamia has been killed."

Dionysus coughed loudly. "Oh, and when Dionysus's celebration party is over. Which reminds me," Zeus said, once again turning back to the Hunters and the Immortal Campers, "Try to kill Lamia by next week. Dionysus wishes to celebrate his freedom from this Camp and on that day, Poseidon will release his control over the tides, since Dionysus wishes to celebrate on a beach. Don't ask me why."

Chiron bowed. "That is absolutely no problem my lord. I'm sure that Jason and the others would like to rest after such a beating by Perseus." Chiron said, winking at Percy. Percy replied with a relieved smile, he was worried that after what he had done, Chiron wouldn't think well of him, but it still looked like Chiron cared about him.

"Very well. Then that is all! Meeting adjourned! Congratulations again to Jason, Piper, Leo Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Annabeth and Nico! Oh and Perseus, beat this!" Zeus yelled.

Zeus raised his Master Bolt and 25 bolts of lightning shot down, striking a circle around his and Hera's chairs with explosive bangs. Then a huge, thick blast of lightning struck, engulfing Zeus and Hera in a blinding white light. With a roar of thunder and a wave of light, they disappeared.

Artemis shook her head. "You know, perhaps you shouldn't have tried to make such a dramatic entrance. He's going to go overboard." Artemis said as the gods teleported away and everyone stood up and began going back to their own activities. A group of Apollo kids brought out stretchers and put the two boys that had been beaten up by Thalia and the Hunters onto it before wheeling to the infirmary.

Percy grinned. "We made an entrance though, didn't we? Um my lady, I'll see you at your cabin, I'm going to go catch up with my friends." Percy said.

Artemis nodded. "Probably see you during dinner, since it's so late already. Later Perseus." Artemis said, walking with her Hunters to her cabin, which was glowing in the night.

Percy turned and walked towards the Immortal Campers, who were all waiting in a group for him. Chiron was there also.

"Good to see you again, Chiron. How's life and camp?" Percy asked as he was pulled into a deep hug with Chiron.

"I too am very glad to see you again my boy. And with Matthew gone, Camp will be good. Even if he comes back, I'm sure your, ah, _way_ of disposing him will stop people from following him again." Chiron said.

Percy flushed. "I hope you don't find it disturbing…"

Chiron smiled. "Not at all. Forgive me, but I must go now and attend to some things." Chiron said, cantering off.

A rather uncomfortable silence descended upon Percy and the Immortal Campers. Only then did Percy notice that Annabeth was not standing among the group, she had run off the instant she'd regained consciousness.

"So, is, um, everything cool and all between us?" Percy asked awkwardly.

Nico grinned. "Obviously with me. I got nothing against you." Nico said as he stepped forward and gave Percy a man-hug.

Percy looked at the other campers before Frank came up with an excellent suggestion. "GROUP HUG!" he yelled.

Percy barely had time to brace himself as all of them hugged him hard, crushing him from all directions. It was almost as hard as Tyson's own hugs.

"Oi, really, I'm touched and all, but I can't breathe." Percy gasped out.

After a couple more claps on the back, they let go and surveyed him.

"Damn Percy, if it wasn't for the fact that I'm with Jason, I'd go after you." Piper said, causing everyone to roar with laughter. Jason gave her a look. "What, it's the truth. Besides, did I just get you jealous?" That set everyone off again.

"That's nice to know Piper, nice to know. Especially considering how you already did _that_ with Jason. So thank you very much." Percy said. Both Jason and Piper turned a fiery red while the rest sniggered.

"C'mon, let's just walk around; we look like idiots standing here. So how's Camp J?" Percy asked.

"Not bad. With Jason and Reyna as praetors, it's going pretty well. Octavian's influence has fallen greatly, probably due to the fact that that Rachel girl completely trashed him. Also, a lot of people want you back. The Fifth Cohort obviously, we were always on your side, but now everyone, even the First and Second Cohort are clamoring for you to come back, especially once they heard that you were kicked out of Camp Half-Blood." Frank informed him.

Percy nodded, absorbing the information. "Too bad. My loyalties lie elsewhere. Besides, I never liked the First and Second. Too pompous."

"Hey watch it, that's the cohort _I_ came from." Reyna said.

Percy laughed. "Before, I would've been afraid of you Reyna, but not anymore. Maybe when you're in rage mode, but other than that, nope. Besides, we all know you have a soft side."

Reyna sighed. "True. But don't you _dare_ tell anyone else that, or I _will_ tear kick your butt."

"Don't worry. My mouth is sealed shut. Another question, what made you guys choose immortality?" Percy asked.

They looked at him weirdly. "Because…it's _immortality._ You get to live forever, isn't that great? Also, that means I can continue hounding the beautiful Daughter of Bellona, Reyna." Leo said, throwing a wink at Reyna.

Everyone laughed while Reyna rolled her eyes in exasperation. It was common knowledge among them that Leo had a huge crush on Reyna, ever since Leo had stepped off the Argo II into Roman territory for the first time, he'd been infatuated by her. He was also infatuated by Thalia, even though he was very careful around her now, since the last time he'd tried, well, let's just say that he looked as if he'd somehow stepped into a furnace hot enough to burn most of his hair off. Reyna had made it clear however, that she wouldn't fall in love since she had lost the "fight" with Piper. She might have small crushes, *cough* Percy *cough*, but they were extremely rare and she never committed herself to them.

"Besides, you're immortal too, aren't you?" Leo asked.

"Technically I am. But I'm a Hunter, so I can die in battle. It's harder to kill me, but I can still die like a mortal." Percy said.

"Oh. By the way, where did you get your fire powers? I thought I was the only who had them." Leo asked.

Percy grinned. "Didn't you hear? Hestia is my patron and I'm her champion. She gave me her blessing, and I gained some of her fire powers. I can also summon home food. Even cereal." Percy said proudly.

They looked at him with low-jaws. "Wow. That's cool. So you're now a water-fire user and can summon food?" Hazel asked.

Jason chuckled. "Isn't that what he just said?" Jason said.

Hazel flushed. "I just wanted to confirm, alright?"

"Whoa, I'm just making fun of you, no need to take it so personally." Jason said, holding his hands up. "Also, you better hide your diamonds."

Hazel gave a groan of frustration as she snapped her fingers, opening a crevice and causing a large pile of diamonds to fall into the ground. While not cursed anymore, Hazel had decided-and they agreed- that it was too dangerous since greedy and selfish people might hound her forever and possibly kidnap her to force her to summon more jewels and precious metals.

"Hey Nico, why don't you seem surprised? You're just walking there with a smile on your face." Jason said, turning to Nico.

Nico raised an eyebrow to Percy, who nodded. "It's because I already knew. Everything."

"What? You knew all this time and you never told us!" Jason said indignantly, mirroring his comrades shocked exclamations.

"Hey, hey, don't blame me, I swore on the Styx not to tell! Besides, if Aphrodite hadn't put a curse on Persephone, I wouldn't have known! So I was just lucky." Nico said.

 _That_ caught their attention. "Curse? On Persephone? What did my mom do?" Piper asked curiously.

Percy roared with laughter while Nico turned a blazing red. "Have fun explaining Nico!"

Nico averted his eyes. "Um, it went like this…"

After everyone had stopped laughing from Nico's story, they continued talking and walking as they traded stories on how life had been, anything new, Percy's powers, Percy's position, Percy's odd clothing and all the normal demigod stuff. Then the conch horn sounded, signaling dinner.

"C'mon guys, let's go eat dinner. I'm starving." Frank said.

"Speaking of dinner, where's Grover?" Percy asked. He had really wanted to see Grover and explain why he had cancelled the empathy link.

"Like Rachel. He said he'd never come back so long as Matthew is here. And he makes a good point, Matthew doesn't care naught about satyrs, he thinks they're useless and actually stopped them from rescuing some demigods." Jason explained.

"So where is he now?" Percy asked.

"Uh, I actually have no idea. Why don't you try Iris Messaging him tomorrow?" Jason asked as they reached the dining pavilion.

Percy nodded. "Will do. And here we separate. Hopefully we can continue talking some other time my friends."

They nodded and continued off to their own respective tables. Percy was about to go to the Poseidon table out of habit before he remember that he was a Hunter, so technically he could sit at the Artemis table. He didn't want to dishonor his father, but it was boring to sit by himself. Besides, he really loved Artemis a _lot._ He was caught in the middle of this dilemma when he heard a sharp whistle. He looked up and saw Artemis smiling at him, pointing to an empty chair next to her. Chiron was also waving his hand at him. Percy grinned. This was even better. He extended his wings and flew over before dropping into his chair.

Unbeknownst to him or Artemis, or anyone for that matter, the Hunters were watching gleefully from the corner of their eyes as they finally saw Artemis begin to warm up to Percy.

"So we're staying at Camp then?" Percy asked as he sat down.

"Wait." Artemis said, motioning to Chiron, who was standing up.

Chiron stomped his hoof several times against the ground to get the campers attention.

"As everyone knows, today eight of campers became Immortal for their deeds, which were indeed great. Joining us at the high table is Lady Artemis, who will be staying here for some time as she and her Hunters search for Lamia, so treat her and her Hunters with respect! Lastly, but definitely not least, today we also have the return of our beloved camper, Perseus Jackson. So let us all have a round of applause for Lady Artemis, the Immortal Campers and Percy Jackson!" Chiron yelled.

The entire camp cheered crazily and thunderous applause rang through the air. The Immortal Campers took turns bowing, with Leo doing an extravagant one to gain the girls attention. Artemis merely nodded, and Percy followed suit, but flashed a brilliant smile that left the entire Aphrodite cabin stunned.

Chiron smiled. "Now let the nymphs and dryads serve the food, do the sacrifices and then we shall eat!" Chiron finished before sitting back down to yet another round of thunderous applause.

"I must say, that has been the most enthusiastic response I've ever heard. Beats even when you came back from your eight month abduction, Percy. You're a celebrity now." Chiron said.

"You flatter me, Chiron. I'm still the same old Percy Jackson that you've always known. Different on the outside, but still the same inside." Percy grinned. Then the dryads came, carrying plates of food and they had to stop their conversation. Much to Artemis's relief, since she was sitting between Chiron and Perseus.

As the dryads neared the table, Artemis saw them fighting over who would serve Percy. When a dryad handed Percy his dinner, he looked up and smiled his thanks, causing the dryad to blush an intense green. She felt a twinge of jealously and was about to make a snappy remark when Percy stood up, carrying his plate with him. She looked at him in confusion.

"Where are you going?" Artemis asked.

"I'm still going to do those sacrifices whenever I'm at Camp; it's an old habit that's been with me my whole life." Percy explained.

Artemis nodded and waved him off. When Percy reached the brazier, he pondered for a second what to say. He then decided to say what was on his mind, though he was careful to not let his emotions for Artemis to show.

"To my father, Poseidon, my patron, Hestia, and my Lady, Artemis. Split them up evenly alright? No fighting." Percy whispered under his breath before blushing as he realized what he'd said at the end. They'd think he was a fool. He really hoped Artemis wouldn't notice.

He walked back and sat back down next to a smirking Artemis. _Oh great…_

"Really Perseus? Split them up evenly? No fighting? Really?" Artemis said, a small laugh escaping her lips.

Percy blushed as he looked away, a tingling sensation running down his back simply from hearing Artemis's sparkling laugh.

"Well yeah, I mean, usually campers sacrifice to one god right?" Percy mumbled.

"Well, you can continue doing it if you want, but don't add any more odd words again, alright? I nearly choked when I heard it." Artemis said, still laughing.

Percy bowed his head. "Your will, my lady."

Artemis nodded and turned to Chiron, asking about previous hotspots that Lamia had struck. He was just beginning to dig in to his barbecued steak when he felt a soft body pressed tight against him and two arms were wrapped around his chest.

"My, but you certainly _are_ a celebrity in this community, Perseus." A soft voice said right into Percy's ear.

Percy sighed. "Aphrodite, get off me. And what the Hades are you doing here anyways?" Percy asked, shrugging himself out of Aphrodite's grasp.

Aphrodite pouted as she pulled a chair out from behind and sat down, facing Percy. "Why can't I sit down next to you? Besides, every celebrity should have a lady next to him. And they should, of course, have had some time in bed together." Aphrodite said, winking suggestively at Percy.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't feel like having a lady next to me alright? Now can you just go away and leave me in peace? Or what, you have another mission for me? Because if you do, then that'll depend on what type of mission." Percy grumbled.

Aphrodite pouted again as she tried to snuggle up to Percy. "Make me leave. Bribe me. Perhaps a couple nights stand? Or better yet, a couple _years?_ If that's too much, I'm fine with a couple months." Aphrodite asked in a hopeful voice, batting her eyelashes.

Percy opened his mouth to answer when a fist came from nowhere and smashed into Aphrodite's jaw. Aphrodite gave a strangled yelp as she stumbled backwards, sitting down hard into her chair. A very unsightly bruise was already beginning to form on her lower jaw. She gasped when she winced as she touched her jaw.

"What was that for Artemis?" Aphrodite said furiously in a hushed whisper, since a couple of campers were watching with wide eyes. Fortunately, they were boys so Aphrodite quickly flashed them a smile that left them dizzy before glaring at Artemis.

Percy flinched from the site of Artemis. Her silver eyes were snapping with fury and the look seemed to promise almost instant death. When Artemis had first saw Aphrodite pressed against Percy, she'd done her best to ignore it and continue listening to Chiron. Then her conversation had ended with Chiron and she had heard Aphrodite talking about Percy having a lady next to him. And when she heard Percy trying to get her to move and Aphrodite talking about one night stands and whatnot, she couldn't stand it anymore. So she punched her.

"Don't you _dare_ try to corrupt the only decent man left on this planet!" Artemis hissed angrily.

"Corrupting! How is that corrupting? I'm offering him the best time of his life! And probably the best time of _my_ life too! Tell me, how is that corrupting? It's like what Thalia said, he's up for grabs!" Aphrodite asked.

"He is _not_ up for grabs. He's a Hunter, which means he belongs to _me,_ and he doesn't want anything to do with you anyways!" Artemis shot back.

Aphrodite stood up, brushing nonexistent lint from her clothing. "Fine. But that doesn't mean I'll stop trying." Aphrodite said before disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

Artemis gave a low growl. "The nerve of that goddess." She snarled.

Percy chuckled. "So I'm decent now? Where did 'stupid', 'foolish', and 'disgusting' go?" Percy asked cheekily.

Artemis turned to glare at Percy. "Not you too!" Artemis snapped before slapping Percy across the face and disappearing in a puff of silver mist.

Percy gaped at the place where Artemis had been as he rubbed his cheek.

"Your expression tells me that this is most certainly not the first time you've been slapped, my boy." Chiron said as he chuckled.

"No…no… definitely not. And I'm pretty sure it's not going to be my last either." Percy mumbled. Chiron nodded and returned to eating his dinner. Percy did also, and was almost done when he felt something small and hard in his jacket pocket. Percy frowned and reached in.

He felt the usual amount of drachmas that constantly regenerated, a bottle of Calvin Klein Aqua perfume that he couldn't toss away and then something new. A small bag and a note. He quickly pulled both items out and read the note.

 _Dear Perseus,_

 _Contrary to what your cranky Lady thinks, I was here for another reason. If you think that the immortality is unfair, just look at the other item. It'll solve all your troubles._

 _I still meant what I said about having some private time together!_

 _Lady Aphrodite._

Percy put the note back into his pocket and looked at the bag. He gasped when he saw it. He looked up to make sure no one was watching and noticed that the Hunters had already left. He quickly excused himself and walked off in a random direction, discreetly opening the bag. A powerful golden glow shone out as he opened the bag and confirmed his suspicions. It was the same enchanted bag that Athena had given him to hold onto the sixteen Golden Apples from the Garden of the Hesperides.

He quickly shut the bag and stuffed it back into his pocket, wondering how the _Hades_ Aphrodite found out. Could he do it? Could he eat a Golden Apple and turn Immortal? He was shaken out of his thoughts by a loud thumping sound and the snap of bowstrings. He looked up and found that he'd walked to the archery fields. Quickly surveying the field, he saw his fellow Hunters shooting flawless bulls-eyes and Artemis was throwing silver knife after silver knife onto a target, a cluster of knives already stuck there. To his surprise, he found that he could actually throw better than she could. And since she seemed rather cranky, he decided to challenge her, if only to cheer her up.

"Hello my lady. I see that your throwing knife skills are quite good, although not as good as your archery skills." Percy said, calmly walking up to her.

Artemis whirled around; dagger already in hand before she realized it was Percy. She sheathed it with a huff and raised an eyebrow.

"You sound like you could do better." Artemis said.

Percy grinned. "In this matter, I'm pretty sure that I _could_ do better." Percy said as cockily as he could.

Artemis's eyes instantly brightened. "Ohh, a challenge is it? Alright then, shall we have a throwing knife contest? 30 knives, no stopping to take aim, whoever wins gets to ask one thing out of the loser. No backing out. Hunters as our witnesses." Artemis said smugly.

"No problem. Whenever you're ready." Percy said.

The Hunters instantly formed a circle around them, eager to see who would win and eager to see what Artemis or Percy would ask.

Both Artemis and Percy drew their daggers from their shoulder sheathes, three daggers in each hand. On an unseen signal, they started throwing them at high speed, Artemis summoning more when she ran out and Percy reaching down onto his Chaos-gifted belt. Nearing an average of five knives per second, they were finished in about seven seconds. Both of them were breathing hard, since they had been throwing at maximum speed but still with great accuracy.

Artemis was looking quite proudly of her cluster of knives, each of them hitting the bulls-eye, when she heard what Percy was saying.

"I win." Percy said.

She froze. Then she turned over to Percy's target and saw twenty nine knives stuck in the bulls-eye. The thirtieth one had split a knife and it was lodged clean in the knifes handle. Artemis slowly turned to Percy, who had a smug expression on his face. Artemis felt an uncharacteristic fear cross over her as she faced Percy, her mind frantically trying to find some way of backing out.

"So, anything I ask?" Percy said.

"Y-y-yes." Artemis squeaked. The Hunters instantly squealed like little schoolgirls as they waited anxiously and impatiently for Percy's answer. Many of them were thinking along the lines of kissing or at least hugging, which they were eagerly awaiting. Artemis however, was feeling nervous but she straightened herself. If she were to meet her punishment, then she might as well face it with dignity.

"Well?" Artemis asked challengingly, trying but failing to keep a quaver out of her voice.

Percy didn't answer. Instead, he was thinking deeply. Percy slowly surveyed Artemis and his fellow Hunters. He loved Artemis, and he loved his "sisters". They had, after some rough spots, accepted and embraced him, even offering their sympathies and using past experiences to relate to Percy. They had had much fun, and they had all spent quality time together. It was _this_ that made life worth living, it was the joy of having company and living life to its full. But what always scared Percy was that while they were immortal, they weren't completely immortal. They could still die in battle, and Percy couldn't bear to think of living without any of his fellow Hunters. Percy grinned as a thought hit him. Fifteen Hunters and one Artemis, with sixteen Golden Apples. Now _that_ was an interesting combination.

Percy looked up and met Artemis's gaze directly, tilting his head slightly as he continued to formulate a plan. Perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone. But he'd need help. And he knew exactly just who to ask.

While he was thinking, Artemis was getting more and more anxious and when Percy turned to her with his heart melting sea green gaze, she almost fainted. Finally, Percy spoke.

"Alright then. You ready for it?" Percy asked, grinning slyly.

Artemis swallowed nervously. "Y…yes." She stammered out.

"Ok. You, me and the Hunters, dinner in one week." Percy said.

The Hunters stared in shock while Artemis looked absolutely mystified. She had been expecting something more like what a man would do, probably forcing her to kiss him which, she had to admit, wasn't actually all that bad, what with his perfect lips. She blushed and forced herself to think about Percy's proposition. She was actually even more nervous by this, since she had absolutely no idea what he planned. Once again, she'd underestimated him.

"Um, but, er, in one week, that's Dionysus's celebration party!" Artemis exclaimed, trying to buy some more time to think.

Percy arched an eyebrow. "So? Dionysus probably wants to party all day, and while partying on a beach is great, I don't think I want to get punch drunk and I don't think you would want to either. We could have the dinner later if you wish." Percy said.

Artemis thought about it. It was true, even a goddess could, after enough wine as strong as Dionysus's, could get slightly tipsy. And she didn't trust herself around someone like Percy, especially since her resistance to him was already so thin.

"Alright then. Next week, pick me and my hunters up at eight o'clock at night. Don't you dare be late, Perseus." Artemis said as sternly as she could. It was completely ruined by Percy's response.

"Oh, don't you worry Arty. I'll be there." Percy said, his sea-green eyes glinting with amusement as he made another nickname for her.

"Don't you worry."


	14. Chapter 14

**Percy**

Percy grinned as he walked away from Artemis. Her expression was priceless; it seemed to be a combination of anticipation, shock, annoyance and just plain confusion.

"Wherever you're going, make sure you get back here by midnight!" Artemis yelled after him.

"I'll try, my lady!" Percy yelled back.

Percy quickly walked on, aiming to get somewhere into the forest so he could fly to Olympus without being seen. Unfortunately, he was constantly being watched. Mainly by the Aphrodite cabin. At first he tried to ignore it, but when the girls began walking up to him and batting their eyelashes and trying to flirt with him, it became too much. Quickly running through a list of hiding spots or hidden places that he knew where could have some privacy, he ultimately decided on the beach. Transforming himself into liquid form, he had the extreme pleasure of hearing all the campers scream in fright as he shot towards the beach at high speed.

Unfortunately, even at the beach he was not alone.

Percy reached the beach after snaking around and scaring the Hades out of several campers with a grateful sigh. He slowly reformed himself and stretched, taking in a deep breath of the salty sea-tinted air. He looked into the sky and was about to launch himself into the air when he heard voices. One was incredibly sad and the other stern and hard as steel.

"Mother please, is there anyway-" The sad voice said before she was cut off.

"No. There is absolutely no chance, he has already told you."

Percy walked closer and saw two figures which he recognized as Annabeth and Athena. Annabeth was kneeling on the shore, facing the sea, tears rolling down her face as her hand clenched tightly around Percy's engagement ring box. Athena stood beside her. Deciding that it would be rude to interrupt, he merely stood there and listened in.

"But mother, I _can't_ lose him, he-he means too much to me." Annabeth moaned.

"It was your own fault. Your opportunity was open, but you closed it. I had my doubts about young Perseus, but he proved himself that he loved you. He truly did. But what did you do? You tossed him away like a toy that you got tired of." Athena said harshly.

"But… is-is there any way to reopen the opportunity?" Annabeth whispered.

"No. The only way would be to give him Aphrodite's love potion, and that would be horrible. You and him would be living a lie." Athena replied.

"But mother, maybe you could-" Annabeth said before Athena cut her off.

"Absolutely not. I would never do that to anyone, much less Perseus." Athena said coldly.

"But-" Annabeth started saying but Athena cut her off again.

"Tell me Annabeth, what am I the Goddess of?" Athena asked.

"You're the Goddess of Wisdom, War, Crafts, Strategy, Justice-" Annabeth listed off before Athena cut her off yet again.

"Exactly. I'm the Goddess of Justice. And I expect my children to know and understand that. You've really disappointed me Annabeth, I thought you would know the value of Percy and not be so short-sighted." Athena said harshly. "He has many spectacular characteristics in him, something that Poseidon also has, if you look deep enough."

Annabeth sighed. "I know…it's just that…that-"

"It's over, you cannot moan over something you have lost. It was your fault, so accept it. If you aren't going to move on, at least drop it." Athena said with barely concealed impatience.

Annabeth nodded sadly and stood up. "I'm going now Mom. Thanks for coming." She choked out before rushing off.

"Annabeth loves you a lot you know, young Perseus." Athena said, surprising him as she turned to face him.

Percy shrugged as he walked forward to stand beside Athena. "I know. But it's too late, and besides, I-I love someone else far more than I have ever felt. And I mean really, really love that person. With Annabeth, well, I just want to be on neutral terms with her. I'm not ready to forgive her yet, that'll take a long time, but I don't want to hate her either." Percy said.

"Give it time Perseus. She will get over it and all will be well. About your new found love… it's her, isn't it?" Athena asked, throwing a sly glance at Percy.

Percy felt his face heat up so he turned to face the sea. There was no doubt who the 'her' was.

"Um… no, it's er-"

"Please Perseus, as if it could be anyone else. I've seen the way you look at her, the caring and protectiveness in your eyes when you look at her, and I've seen how comfortable she is with you beside her." Athena said quietly, placing a hand on Percy's shoulder.

Percy sighed. He looked up and stared at the silvery-yellow moon before answering.

"Yes. Yes it is. Something doomed to end in failure or destruction." Percy said, feeling unnaturally glum.

"Do not be so pessimistic Perseus." Athena said sternly. "You never know what'll happen, not even the Fates know."

"How do you know? I thought the Fates prepare almost everything? And also, Artemis is the most committed maiden goddess _ever,_ what other way can it end?" Percy asked.

"I do not know Perseus. And the Fates do not know everything, since there are higher beings than they. Or perhaps I should say deity." Athena said.

Percy turned to face her. "Someone higher than the Fates? Ah. You mean Chaos?" Percy asked.

Athena nodded. "Ever since he visited us to grant the oath you had offered, I've been checking up all we know about him. And I am surprised, since we don't have much information about him, other than the fact that he created the Universe before hiding himself away. Some legends say he had a brother, while others say that he was not the true creator of the Universe, he had a father who created him to help him watch over the Universe. Unfortunately, none of this can be verified seeing as no one has met Chaos. Ever. Until your oath." Athena said, pausing for a little bit.

"It proves you are very special, to have gained the attention of Chaos. There were very few heroes who swore by Chaos, and they were all rejected. You are the very first to have been accepted, Perseus. It means that the Fates do not bind you, nor do they control you. Perhaps they did before, but not anymore. Your fate is truly in your own hands Perseus. I doubt whether even Chaos can do anything about it." Athena said in a serious tone.

"That sounds ominous; knowing that everything I'm doing will affect what's going to happen. But how the _Hades_ does this have to do with Artemis?" Percy asked.

"It involves Artemis because it involves _you._ Whatever you do, whoever you are with, you change. Haven't you noticed? The Hunt has accepted you. I don't think they've ever had that much fun before. You've changed Artemis too, in a slight way. Even Zeus has accepted you. In truth, Zeus is actually a little afraid of you, because Chaos personally showed up and expressed his approval of you. You've changed the way the gods have lived, Perseus. And if I'm positive about one thing, is that gods don't like to change." Athena said.

"So I'm a reality-distorting guy now? That sounds pretty dangerous. Still doesn't solve the problem with Artemis." Percy said.

"True. Half of your situation depends on what you do, and the other half depends on Artemis herself. But I can definitely tell that Artemis has quite a heavy thing for you. And I'm not sure whether you know this, but you _are_ Artemis's first, ah, how do I put this, hmm, attraction I suppose. I mean attraction as in the whole package." Athena said.

Percy turned to her. "I thought Orion was? And also, why are you telling me this? I thought you would try to push me away from Artemis?" Percy asked.

"That's what you mortals think. Artemis puts Orion in the sky because he was a good hunter, and you stupid mortals think that Artemis fell in love with him. As if." Athena snorted.

"He was only a toy, someone that Artemis found interesting. Something Artemis could entertain herself with. Trust me, Artemis and I are very close, so I know what she thinks. Also, Artemis herself told me that she was drawn to him because of his skill in archery and hunting, not because of who he was and later admitted to me that she was actually glad that he was dead. Especially after she learned what Orion had done before she'd met him and what he'd been doing behind her back. Why do you think she put the scorpion in the sky? Because he had tried to seduce her huntresses, attempted to rape one, and even stalked Artemis when she was bathing. I hated him too."

For some strange reason, Percy felt immensely happy when heard the news.

"Yeah, she told me about the scorpion." Percy muttered. Unable to hold back a smile, he reminded Athena that she hadn't answered his last question.

"You didn't answer the last question. Why do you support it? Why _aren't_ you trying to push me away?" Percy asked, staring into Athena's intimidating grey eyes.

Athena returned the stare with exasperation. "You know, just when I thought you'd changed, you reveal that you are still the same old Seaweed Brain. If you were any other man, I would be the first to kill you. But you aren't. You are different, and in all honesty, I am forced to admit that I think you are the perfect match for my sister. You're worthy. And I've seen how relaxed she is around you. She may deny it all she wants, but she actually likes your company. You've also proven yourself. Follow what you think is correct, and leave the rest for Artemis to decide."

"Oh I will, I will. I just have…a feeling about this. About something. I don't know, but I just have a feeling something will happen in the near future, good or bad, I cannot tell. But my instincts tell me something will happen. Something big. And it might or might not have anything to do with Artemis." Percy said, frowning as he turned back to the sea.

Athena shrugged. "I do not know. And loth as I am to admit it, your instincts so far have been pretty accurate. Keep an eye out for any trouble or anything out of the ordinary." Athena said.

Percy cracked a grin. "Ordinary? When are things ever ordinary for me?" Percy chuckled.

Athena smiled a bit too. "True. Well, I must go now and attend some business, so I wish you luck in whatever you're going to do. And remember, due to Artemis's pride, you _will_ have to make the move first. And do not worry; your secret is safe with me. Oh, and watch out for Apollo. He is very…sensitive when it comes to his sister. You know what happened." Athena said.

"Yeah…well, what do you suggest I do?" Percy asked.

"Just don't piss Apollo off and hope that he'll accept your relationship. There isn't much you can do about him, unfortunately." Athena said.

"I will." Percy said. Then he turned around and narrowed his eyes slightly as his gaze sharpened.

"You know, the things that you told me sounds like the stuff Aphrodite would say. How do you know so much about this type of stuff? About relationships? Are you in one or going after someone yourself?" Percy asked.

Suddenly, Athena found Percy's eyes impossibly sharp and she felt as if the intensity of his gaze was stripping away every defense she had.

"Wh-what? How dare you suggest such a thing?" Athena asked, her voice sounding squeaky and utterly failing at keeping the quaver out of her voice.

Percy snorted. "Look, I told you the truth, so you should tell me the truth too. If not who, at least answer the question." Percy said, continuing to stare at her.

"Um…perhaps I'm trying something new…" Athena mumbled, her face turning crimson.

Percy smirked. "Well, so long as you aren't going after my dad, fine with me." Percy said jokingly.

He completely failed to catch the stricken and panicked look that crossed Athena's face as Percy looked into the sky, noticing it was getting late.

"Well, I must get going Lady Athena, since if I come back too late, Artemis will have my head. So thank you for your advice and help Lady Athena. See you later." Percy said, extending his wings and rocketing into the air.

"Se-see you lat-later…" Athena stuttered out belatedly as she teleported to a certain palace-in-repair.

Oblivious to all, Percy turned towards Olympus. Taking in deep breaths of the cool and fresh air, he immediately began thinking of what he and Athena had just discussed. Was it possible? Could it really happen? Could his secret love on Artemis really work? Athena had said that Artemis was strongly attracted to him. But from what Percy could tell, Artemis seemed just the same to him, as annoying towards him as ever. But that's not true, Percy corrected himself. Artemis had been much kinder towards him than the first couple months. And she _had_ allowed him to touch and hold on to her, which in itself was a big achievement.

He was wrenched away from his thoughts as he neared Olympus and two wind spirits materialized in front of him.

"Halt! Who dares to invade the territory of Lord Zeus?" A wind spirit said harshly, sword in one hand and his other hand glowing with a ball of power.

The other was just slightly behind him, a whistle in his hand, obviously for distress use. The first wind spirit was about to lift his sword and hold it to Percy's neck when he suddenly recognized the bat-like wings sprouting from Percy's back.

"Oh! Lord Perseus! Forgive us, Guardian, but only full immortals are allowed to enter Olympus without going through the gates down at the Empire State building. That, or have a god or goddess accompany you." The wind spirit said in a much more polite tone.

"Ah ok, well, that's alright then. Thanks for not blasting me out of the air." Percy said.

"Anytime, Lord Perseus." The wind spirit responded.

Percy turned to go but paused. "Why do you call me Lord Perseus? I'm just a part immortal demigod." Percy asked.

The wind spirit smiled. "Perhaps, but we've all heard about your victory over the Titan's and the Giant King himself. You're quite a celebrity up here on Olympus, Lord Perseus. Hephaestus TV always has you, filled with the latest rumors or questions or anything really."

Percy groaned. "Just what I need… more attention. Well, thanks for giving me the heads-up. Hopefully we can meet again." Percy said as he turned around and shot towards the Empire State building.

He was about to go all out and smash the sound barrier when he remember that he was in a urban area and a sonic blast could very well cause buildings to collapse. He sighed and slowed his speed down, landing on a rooftop near the Empire State building, pondering on how to get in the building without being seen. Then he grinned as an idea came to him.

Transforming himself into his liquid form, he slid down the building, to outsiders, it would look like a stream of water flowing from the rooftop. He quickly slid across the road, deftly avoiding the cars that went rumbling over him. He slipped underneath the doors and flowed to the front desk, where the same old security guard with the same old book was sitting. As quietly and carefully as possible, and looking around to make sure no one was around, he crept up the desk as far away as he could from the guard so the guard wouldn't catch him in his peripheral vision and silently pooled himself at the base of the desk. Then he crept up again and scanned the desk, noticing a large red button that he assumed was pressed for emergencies, and right next to it was the card to access the 600th floor of the Empire State Building.

Grinning internally, Percy stretched a bit of himself and grabbed the card before slipping off, under the gate and reforming himself in front of the elevator. He snuck a glance at the security guard as he pressed the 'up' button, who was sitting there as impassive as ever. Smirking, he turned back to the elevator and walked in. He put the card in and a second later, the 600th floor button popped out. He pressed it and leaned back, twirling the card in his hand before slipping it into his pocket.

 _Hehe. Something worthy of the Stolls. Speaking of the Stolls, I should talk to them. Hades, I should talk with Clarisse and all my old friends._ Percy thought.

He still hated all the campers, but he felt that he owed his old friends an explanation. They had, after all, stood by his side when he was at his lowest point. Now all the campers were fawning over him because he was obviously "favored" by the gods.

"Damn campers… they're all like sheep, following what appears to be the leader." Percy growled under his breath. He'd never forgive them, unless he found a few more promising ones. Other than that, he'd maintain a cold silence at best.

The elevator doors dinged open and he stepped onto the walkway, once again in awe at just how beautiful Olympus looked, especially at night, what with all those lights glittering all over the place. Seeing as he wasn't a heartbroken, depressed and suicidal kid now, he decided to take the time to admire the improvements that Annabeth had made on Olympus. Unfortunately, just as he was beginning to examine the unique curves and lines that Annabeth had used on an outdoor food bar, he just had to be interrupted. By a fawning female.

"Excuse me? Um, Lord Perseus, may I have your autograph?" A young female squeaked out, holding out a notebook and a pen.

Percy whirled around in surprise, his hand already reaching in and gripping Riptide before he saw the young girl standing in front of him, looking nervous and slightly afraid. He quickly examined the girl and finally put her into the dryad category, since her face was far greener than any demigod female could've been.

"Um, sure. But why?" Percy asked, taking the notebook and pen from her as he quickly scrawled his full name.

"Because you're the Hero of Olympus and a Guardian of the Hunt! We love Artemis! And thank you!" The dryad squealed before giving Percy a quick bat of her eyelashes and running off.

Percy saw where she was running off to and saw that it was a large group of females, who seemed to be eagerly awaiting her. Oh _Hades._ If he didn't run off now, he'd literally get mobbed. He ran off at high speed, relishing the speed at which he could now run. Staying with Artemis really had improved his endurance and speed. He ran and quickly scanned the palaces that belonged to each of the Olympians. He saw a shining silver one with a forest around it and instantly knew that it belonged to Artemis. Next to Artemis's was a golden one. Apollo's palace. It looked rather dull in comparison. And while he would like nothing else than to stare at Artemis's palace, he was running out of time if he were to make the midnight deadline and he still had to find the palace that belonged to the goddess he wanted to talk to.

Percy was just about to stop and ask a citizen when he rounded the corner and found his objective. Aphrodite's palace. He cringed at the sight of the pink walls and the heavy perfume that seeped into the air. He gritted his teeth and reminded himself that he was doing this all for Artemis. And her hunters.

 _And for myself, I suppose._ Percy thought wryly.

He walked up and knocked on the door. A scant second later, he heard some movement behind the door and it opened. He barely saw Aphrodite in a thin sea green dress and her bored expression when she suddenly screamed and before he knew what was happening, he was yanked into her palace and teleported to her master bedroom. The next thing he knew, he was lying on her bed and Aphrodite was straddling him, rolling her hips against him. One of her hands was already reaching under his shirt, rubbing against his stomach while the other one was unzipping her dress as she moaned with pleasure. He gave a yelp and managed to push her off before rolling aside.

"What the hell, Aphrodite! What was that for?" Percy asked indignantly.

"Well, why did you come here then?" She asked, her voice filled with lust.

"I came here to ask you for some help! What else did you think?" Percy asked, warily looking at Aphrodite in case she tried to jump him again.

"I-I thought you took up my offer." Aphrodite replied with a crestfallen look.

Percy groaned. "I already told you, I'm not interested. I'm here for different reasons, and trust me, if I had a choice, I wouldn't come here at all." Percy said.

Aphrodite replied by pouting at him and making her eyes as big as possible. While cute, Percy had seen a much cuter and far more beautiful look on the face of a certain moon goddess when he had been "healing" her.

"It's not going to work. And can you please hurry? I don't have much time. Only about…um, two hours." Percy said as he looked at his watch. His watch indicated 10 o'clock, so he had two hours to get his plan into action.

Aphrodite gave a pitiful sounding sigh. "Fine. But my help _will_ cost you something, Perseus." Aphrodite said, giving him a sly and hopeful glance.

Percy grinned. "You still owe me for saving Tracy, remember? Your turn to return the favour, Lady Aphrodite." Percy said. He smirked as her face fell.

Aphrodite sighed. "Alright. You win. What do you want help with?" She asked.

"Erm, well, um, I uh, I need your help with a, well, I suppose you _could_ call it a date." Percy mumbled, his face turning red.

"And may I ask who this lucky lady is?" Aphrodite asked, unable to resist poking fun at Percy.

"Um, it's with Artemis…" Percy muttered out, feeling impossibly embarrassed. "But I'm bringing the Hunters along with the dinner, so it's not completely a date!" Percy said hurriedly in case Aphrodite got some weird ideas.

However, Aphrodite barely registered what he had said at the end. She had gasped when she heard Artemis's name and she stared at Percy in shock. How had she missed it? As she stared at Percy, she probed deeper into his mind and found the love for Artemis in there, so deep that had Aphrodite wanted to, she literally could've drowned in it for eternity.

It was the biggest relationship _ever,_ it was so big, it made her little play with Paris and Helen look insignificant! It was a relationship forbidden to happen. And while Aphrodite was all for helping him, she felt an alien emotion wash over her. Jealousy. It was the first time she had ever experienced this feeling, and it shocked her. It showed her just how special this young immortal-turned demigod was, how she was able to capture _her_ heart, not the other way around. She continued to stare at Percy, feeling, _relishing_ this new emotion, while Percy was getting more and more uncomfortable and nervous.

"Aphrodite? Hello? Um, so will you help me or not?" Percy asked, beginning to feel squeamish as Aphrodite continued to stare at him.

Aphrodite wrenched herself from her feelings and went back to Percy's plea for help. An idea hit her. She could help Percy, move his relationship with Artemis along, _and_ get some personal pleasure from doing it! Wasn't as good as having Percy all to herself, but she supposed this was the best she was going to get.

"Of course I'll help! Come on, dining room so we can nibble on biscuits and talk!" Aphrodite squealed, feeling energized again.

She snapped her fingers and teleported herself and Percy into her dining room, but she teleported them in a way that Percy ended up in a chair with Aphrodite sitting on top of him. She moaned as she rubbed her back against his chest, which quickly turned into a pitiful, wanting moan as Percy slipped out from underneath her.

"Seriously Aphrodite, I don't have much time, and if you keep on doing that stuff, I'll just do everything by myself then." Percy threatened, giving Aphrodite a dangerous glare.

"Ok, ok, I'll try to control myself. So what do you want? Clothes? Tips? Ways of wooing a girl?" Aphrodite asked as she reached towards the table and picked up a biscuit.

"No, none of that. Actually, yeah, I'll need help on the clothing, but I also need some other help." Percy said.

Aphrodite nodded. "Nibbles?" She asked, holding her biscuit out to him. Percy leaned backwards and shook his head. "What a untrusting person." Aphrodite pouted as she ate the biscuit.

"So what do you need help then?" Aphrodite asked.

"Well, first of all, what restaurant do you suggest? And please, I want a dignified restaurant, not something that Apollo would go to." Percy said.

"Hmmm." Aphrodite pondered. "Japanese? I like sushi."

Percy shook his head.

"Seafood? Lobster is great!" Aphrodite said just to annoy him.

Percy shook his head violently before glaring at her.

"Mexican? Spicy food isn't bad, brings a nice blush to your face." Aphrodite suggested.

At this, Percy rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated shake of his head.

"Hmm, I know! French food? I've always loved Frenchies and their delicacies are great." Aphrodite said.

Percy was about to shake his head again when he thought about it.

"Is it dignified? Like no crazy yelling or something?" Percy asked.

Aphrodite laughed. "My dear Percy, of _course_ it's quiet. And besides, you could just order a VIP table and room you know!" Aphrodite said, smiling at Percy's simplicity.

"Oh right, yeah. Well, what is this restaurant called?" Percy asked.

"Very simple. It's called Daniel. You know, it's on the Upper East Side, on the 65th street. Taste great. I've been there once or twice." Aphrodite said.

Percy nodded and glanced at his watch. Eleven o'clock. He couldn't believe that he had spent that much time with Aphrodite. He shuddered. He still had to talk to another god, sneak back past the security guard and get back to Artemis in an hour.

"Alright then. I have to go now, but can I call again tomorrow?" Percy asked.

"Of course you can come back! Any time! But why are you leaving already! I haven't even gotten time to-um, alright, fine." Aphrodite said, barely managing to stop herself from saying out loud that she had wanted to try to steal a kiss from him.

"I'm leaving because Artemis wants me back at Camp by midnight, and also because I have, quite frankly, had enough of your perfume and pink walls to scar my life forever." Percy grumbled.

He walked over to the window, since he had no intention of having Aphrodite "escort" him out of her palace.

"Wait, where are you going? At least allow me to escort you out of my palace!" Aphrodite said, desperately grabbing for a chance to touch him before he had to leave.

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not your sex toy, Aphrodite. Thanks for your help, and as much as I hate it, I'll be back tomorrow." Percy said before opening the window and jumping right out.

Aphrodite sighed, but quickly smiled again as a devious thought hit her. She would purposely draw out the amount of time needed to prepare Percy for his "date" and try to have fun with him in the process. Of course, she was all for helping Percy extend his relationship with Artemis, but that didn't mean she couldn't have any fun. She grinned evilly. This was going to be awesome.

Percy rolled as he hit the ground, a neat skill that he had learned from the Amazons and mastered during his torturous time with Artemis and her Hunters. He brushed some dirt from his clothes and walked off, keeping an eye out for a palace that would probably look sneaky and most likely had mazes or road signs in front of it. He kept his distance as he walked past a palace that looked like a live palace. Automatons would occasionally roll out of the palace and the palace itself kept on moving, as if shifting itself to make it more comfortable for its occupant. Knowing Hephaestus, he kept a health amount of space between him and the gates. Jumping backwards from getting poisoned by Demeter's poison ivy-laced gates, he found the palace he was looking for.

A big palace with two wings on either side, flapping idly in the air, there were crazy amounts of crossroads, he could already see a maze in it and hundreds of US Postal Service fans. The palace gate was nothing more than a row upon row of metal drop-off package boxes.

Percy walked up and hesitated. He had absolutely no idea of how to "knock" on his gate. He was just about to try yelling at the boxes when the gates swung open of their own accord. Percy paused for a second before shrugging and walking right up to the palace door. The door too, swung right open. He walked inside and saw Hermes standing right next to a table.

"Hello Perseus. You wanted to talk to me?" Hermes asked in a cheerful tone.

"Um, yeah. I was just wondering whether you could tell me if there are any news reports regarding missing children? I mean, missing all at once, or in a certain city, or a sharp rise in missing children?" Percy asked.

Hermes smiled. "A smart young man you've become now, Percy. Unfortunately, Lamia has escaped too recently, so all the reports of missing children are around average. However, I do suggest that you go to the Amazons. They travel far and wide, searching for rare monsters to capture, so they might notice things even before I do. And from what I've heard, you're on pretty good terms with them. Why don't you ask them tomorrow for help? I'll keep an eye out too, but sometimes I'm, ah, forgetful."

 _"Yeah, that's why I invented the internet. You completely forgot about it, boss."_

 _"George, shut up! Hermes invented the internet and he did not forget about it! "_

"Both of you shut up. Or I won't get any rats for you two to eat." Hermes said sternly as his pocket vibrated.

 _"Awww, alright, but at least take us out of your pockets will you? I want to see Percy, haven't seen him in a long time."_

 _"Yeah, I agree with Martha. This pocket stinks anyways, probably because you never change your pants."_

Hermes groaned as Percy chuckled. He took his cellphone-caduceus and held it in his hand.

"There. Happy now?" Hermes grumbled.

"Hello Martha. Hey George. What's up?" Percy asked as the two snakes slithered around the phone.

 _"Oooohhh, what a handsome young man you've become Percy! I'd love to come after you, but I'm a snake. How sad."_ Martha said in a sad little voice.

 _"Hey, you're a_ snake! _You shouldn't even think that he's handsome!"_ George exclaimed.

 _"That's because you're jealous of my beauty since you're a ugly twat. And because I'm Hermes favourite."_ Martha said smugly.

 _"Oi! Who're you calling twat? I don't even_ have _a twat! And you're not Hermes favourite, we both are!"_ George shot back.

 _"Of course I'm Hermes favourite. That's because I don't try to steal credit from his inventions, and because I'm always polite, while you are the exact opposite. Bloody obnoxious too."_ Marth replied calmly.

 _"Oh yeah? How about-"_

"Stop it. Did you two want to come out to talk to Percy or did you come out to argue in front of him?" Hermes said sternly.

 _"Sorry Hermes. We'll stop. By the way, you have about 88 unread text messages, three quarters which are from Demeter."_ Martha said.

Hermes groaned again. "Demeter? What's up with her?"

 _"It's because Demeter has a crush on you."_ George replied. Percy swore that if snacks could smirk, George would've been smirking. _"Hey big boy, did you bring us a rat?"_

"Eh no, I didn't bring a rat since I hadn't thought of asking Hermes for help until I was on Olympus. I'm sorry." Percy replied.

 _"Don't be. George is an inconsiderate idiot;_ I _know that you're very busy, what with being Guardian of the Hunt and all._ " Martha said sweetly.

 _"Stop flirting with him Martha! He's a_ human _, for Zeus's sake!"_ George said irritably.

 _"I am not flirting! I'm just giving him compliments, which he completely deserves! If I were saying he were_ tasty, _then that'd be different!"_ Martha yelled.

 _"Rats. I love them. So yumm-"_

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP? AND NOT ANOTHER WORD OF RATS EITHER!" Hermes roared at the two before flicking the 'silent' switch on and slipping it back into his pocket.

"Sorry about that Perseus. So, any other questions?" Hermes asked after taking several deep breathes.

Percy grinned. "Nope, that's all Lord Hermes. Thank you very much. I'll go now." Percy said, bowing as he turned to leave.

"You're welcome, young Guardian. And I'll take that key back, by the way." Hermes said.

Percy froze. "What?" he asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew what Hermes was talking about.

Hermes grinned, but this grin had a mischievous hint in it.

"You're skill at taking the key from him was pretty good. But what you don't know is that we gods know what enters our elevators. So even if you get past the security guard, the instant someone steps into the elevators without the security guard knowledge, we'll know instantly. If it weren't for the fact that it was you, all of us Olympians would have been waiting to greet you, in full battle regalia." Hermes explained.

Percy flushed with embarrassment.

"Oh. Sorry about that, I just wanted to have some fun, since I really hated that security guard." Percy mumbled as he took the key out of his pocket and handed it to Hermes.

Hermes laughed. "I'm not blaming or even criticizing you Percy. Remember, I've done many similar things, much bigger than this, and I haven't gotten into trouble either. And if we had wanted to punish you, Zeus himself would be talking to you, not me." Hermes said, winking at Percy.

Percy winced. "Thank you Lord Hermes. Then I'll go to the Amazons then." Percy said as he turned around and walked out the palace.

He walked around idly for a couple of minutes as he thought of his dinner plan with Artemis and the Hunters. He had a plan of some sorts, but since he wanted it perfect, he'd have to ask Aphrodite for some finer tips. He groaned at that thought. Something about Aphrodite just creeped him out. He looked down at his watch to see what time it was.

11:15PM

Surprise. Talking to Hermes had taken a much shorter amount of time than talking with Aphrodite. Perhaps he could talk to Rachel? He could fly, and he knew where she lived. Besides, maybe he could also ask her about the uneasy feeling he had. He extended his wings and was just about to fly off when he felt someone grab his shoulder. He instantly whirled around, knocking the arm off, Riptide already out of its pen form. Flames licked the blades as he held the sword to the person's throat. He was hooded and seemed afraid, since his hands were up in the classic 'look, no weapons' motion. It was quite comical actually, since Percy towered over the stranger by about a head.

"Hey, cool down cousin. Damn, but you've got amazing reflexes." He said.

Percy frowned. He knew that voice.

"Apollo? What the heck are you doing out here this late? And you could've just called me. Why are you wearing a hood?" Percy said, lowering his sword and capping it.

"You should put your hood up too, there are a lot of snoopy people around Olympus. As to why I'm here, well, I'm just wondering what you were doing in Aphrodite's palace." Apollo asked. His voice, before cheerful, was suddenly deadly serious.

"As much as I hated to, I was asking her for some help." Percy replied.

"Help for what?" Apollo asked stiffly.

"It's none of your business Lord Apollo." Percy replied.

"Of course it's my business." Apollo growled, taking a step forward.

Percy didn't move and it took all his self-control not to punch Apollo in the face or yell at him. Athena had warned him that he would have to be careful with Apollo, so he did his best to remain as polite as possible.

"If it's your business, then use that famous eye of yours. You said you'd know everything and see everything." Percy said as politely as he could.

Apollo grinned, but it held no amusement in it.

"Good answer kid. Don't you worry, I'll find out." Apollo said in a threateningly manner before disappearing in a burst of golden fire.

Percy turned and put his hood up. He should've done that, then it would be less likely for people to recognize him. He stretched his wings and back before he shot into the air.

And crashed with something big. Several somethings. He felt like he was getting trampled. He lost control and fell right back down to Olympus, causing a cloud of dust to rise around him. He instantly leaped back to his feet, drawing both of his swords and holding them in a 'ready' position. He heard footsteps and whirled around, to face a young women holding a shining silver bow and three arrows. Both gasped and lowered their weapons.

"Percy?" Artemis asked.

"My Lady?" Percy asked at the same time.

"What are you doing on Olympus?" Artemis asked, stepping forward and flipping Percy's hood off.

"I was asking Hermes for information about Lamia and missing children. Stuff like that. And I was just going to go and pay a visit to Rachel, the Oracle." Percy replied, deciding not to tell her about Aphrodite.

Artemis nodded. Then shook her head.

"You really need to open your eyes up. How could you miss my chariot and the deer?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"I was trying to locate Long Island from up here, and I didn't notice you. And what were you doing anyway?" Percy asked.

Artemis gave him an exasperated look.

"What do you think? I have my duties to do." Artemis said.

"Duties?" Percy asked, feeling foolish again.

Artemis groaned. "Just as Apollo has to ride every morning, I need to ride at night, because I'm a Goddess of the Moon. You just haven't seen me do it because we went to sleep quite a bit earlier than now." Artemis said. "And probably because you're an inobservant man…"

"Hey, just because I didn't notice doesn't mean I'm inobservant!" Percy protested.

"Whatever. Now get going and make your visit quick Perseus, I expect you to be back at Camp when I return." Artemis said, hopping into her chariot and blasting off.

Percy sighed. How _had_ he missed Artemis and her chariot? And how had he missed the fact that she did it every night? Percy shook his head and decided to hurry up, since he didn't want an angry Artemis after him. He carefully looked into the sky before leaping into the air, aiming straight for Long Island. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he _wanted_ an angry Artemis after him. She was just so endearing when she was yelling at him, her face red and her silver eyes flashing. Of course, he'd prefer a happy Artemis, since her smile could light up the world, but seeing as that was exactly likely, he'd take an angry Artemis instead. He loved both.

He slowed down and quickly morphed into a crane as he approached the island. Sure, a crane wasn't supposed to be seen on Long Island, but it was much better than some big, black winged person or UFO. Percy quickly surveyed the entire island, even though he knew where Rachel lived, it was rather hard to know which street was which from so high up, especially since he had almost never set foot on Long Island. After all, the Island was mostly reserved for the snobby and the rich, and he was neither. Knowing Rachel, he was looking for a building that had lights on and possibly music blaring through the windows. He saw two buildings that had lights on; one was too far from what he guessed was Rachel's address and the other seemed just right. He aimed himself at it and dove in.

He landed on the balcony and peeked in. Right on. There she was, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, wearing a weird shirt with tattered jeans, her painting of the dude who cut his own ear off Van Gogh hanging on a wall. He pecked the thick glass that separated her "room" and the balcony. He knew the glass was thick because Rachel's iPhone was plugged into her Bose, and yet he couldn't hear a single thing. However, Rachel obviously heard his peck.

She froze and turned towards the window, caution evident in her eyes. Then she saw the crane and her brow furrowed. She walked over and opened the sliding, stepping aside as Percy strutted right in. She slammed the door shut and stood in front of it, a celestial bronze dagger appearing in her hand.

"What are you? Who are you? And if you tell me you're just a magical crane, I'll rip your head right off. No crane just flies down here in the middle of night and pecks on my door." Rachel said, her eyes narrowed.

Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He'd completely forgotten Rachel's machine gun fast way of talking. He answered her by transforming back into his human form.

"There. That answer your question? And put down that dagger Rachel, because it just makes you look laughable." Percy said.

Rachel gave a small yelp of fear as she involuntarily took a step backward from the towering figure.

"Th-that doesn't answer my question at all. Just that you're a…a transformer and sound oddly familiar." Rachel stuttered out.

Percy frowned. "You don't recognize me anymore?"

"How the _Hades_ am I supposed to know who you are if you keep a hood on?" Rachel yelled, her eyes flashing and her dagger quite forgotten.

"Hood…? Oh crap!" Percy exclaimed as he reached up and remembered that he had put his hood back on after Artemis had flipped it off. He pulled the hood down. "Recognize me now?"

Rachel's eyes widened before she launched herself at Percy.

"Oh my gods Percy, where have you been these past months? You just, like, disappeared! Like when Hera abducted you!" Rachel exclaimed, crushing Percy in a tight she stepped back and smacked Percy across the face.

However, after getting slapped and hit many times over when he and Artemis had been arguing, he was quite immune to Rachel's rather puny slap.

Rachel frowned at his lack of reaction and punched him in the stomach. She instantly regretted it, since Percy's stomach felt harder than steel. She wrung her hands before glaring into Percy's amusement filled eyes.

"Oi! You're supposed to say something when people slap or punch you!" Rachel grumbled, rubbing her knuckles.

Percy chuckled. "Well, I would, but I would hardly count those two, what did you call them? Slaps or punches? Hardly. More like little pokes." Percy grinned.

"Yeah? What about this? I bet I can _poke_ a couple holes into you." Rachel said, holding her dagger out and pointing it at him. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Spare me." He said. His hand shot up and grabbed the blade precisely between his fingers before wrenching it out of her hand. Percy smirked at her. "You were saying?"

Rachel gulped. "Ok, maybe not. Forget what I said. But anyways, how's life going, Percy?"

Percy handed the dagger back to her, who nodded her appreciation and tucked it back into her waistband.

"Why are you wielding a dagger now? Do you even know _how_ to wield one?" Percy asked as he took a seat.

"Excuse _me_! Annabeth began teaching me how to properly wield one ever since the end of the Titan War! Just because you're a blind boy doesn't mean I don't know how to wield one." Rachel snapped.

"Ok, ok, my apologies. But I don't think you're very good with them, since I could take it out of your hand so quickly." Percy said, giving her a wink.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Now answer my question. How's life?"

"Oh, not bad, not bad. Killed Matthew by the way, so you can come back to camp now." Percy said.

Rachel nodded. "That's good. Thank you. So how's life with Artemis and being a Guardian of the Hunt?"

Percy stared at her, startled. "How did you know?"

"I'm the Oracle, remember? I see a lot of things, mostly in my dreams, and when Apollo made me immortal, he told me." Rachel said, grinning as she tapped her head.

"Figures. Well, life is going pretty well. But about you seeing things in your dreams, that's the reason I'm here. Do you have a sense that something bad is going to happen? Or maybe not bad, but just something big. Really big. And I have no idea what it is supposed to mean, because Gaia is asleep, the Titans are defeated and the Giants are crushed. Do you have any insight into this?" Percy asked.

Rachel frowned. "Hmmm, to be honest with you, no I don't. Everything that my senses and feelings have been telling me is more less peace for now. Many centuries, that's for certain. Maybe eternity."

"Thanks Rachel. Maybe my senses are just acting up or my feelings are messed up. You'll tell me if you sense something though, right?" Percy asked.

"Of course. But Percy, Apollo told me that Chaos himself visited Olympus for you, and unless my Oracle memories are wrong, Chaos bows and listens to _no one._ Sure, the Three Fates together can give him a headache, but they certainly can't stop him. And he gave you a small gift, so I wouldn't dismiss your feelings and senses if I were prophecies are what the Fates ordain. They cannot control things that Chaos touches or has Chaos's involvement. And remember, not even the Fates can control everything that happens on this planet. Who to die, certainly, but they can't control when a monster rises or something. That's Gaia's work." Rachel said in an unnaturally serious tone.

Percy stared at Rachel with a bit of alarm. What Rachel had just said sounded scarily similar to what Athena had told him. He looked down, processing what Rachel had just said.

"Thanks Rachel." Percy said.

"No problem."

They continued talking, from Percy's relationship with the Hunters and Annabeth, to how Rachel was so glad to be out of the awful Lady school she had to attend and how Rachel's father was finally beginning to support his daughter's idea of saving nature when he glanced at his watch. Eleven fifty-nine. Oh _shit._ Artemis was going to be pissed. He cursed under his breath.

"Rachel, thanks for all the informationyou gave me, but can we catch up some time later? I have to go back right now because I'm late." Percy said as he stood up.

"Of course, that's not a problem. I'll just visit Camp whenever I have time then! Or when I have a vision, I'll come or Iris Message you." Rachel said, giving him a last hug as Percy stepped out onto the balcony.

Percy nodded and jumped into the air, a powerful flap of his wings lifting him high into the air. Rachel watched until Percy disappeared from sight, shaking her head at just how much Percy had changed and was about to walk back when she sank to her knees, a familiar sensation washing over her.

However, to her surprise, she did not black out. Her mouth opened of its own accord and a misty green serpent issued forth from her mouth, hovering over her and turning its head to face the direction Percy had gone. It opened its mouth and spoke just three words, instead of a prophecy.

 _End. Brace yourself._

 _Well, that was weird._ Rachel thought an instant before she blacked out.

When she regained consciousness, she had no memory of it happening.

Percy flew towards Camp as fast as he could, not wasting the time, energy and speed to change into a crane since he hoped he could arrive at midnight exactly. He literally boomed across Manhattan and he winced internally, knowing that many people were probably, at this very moment, quite literally shaken out of their beds. Percy landed at the borders of Camp, since Peleus really hated beings that flew right over the camp border. Thanks to Artemis's teachings, his landing was quiet, stealthy and undetectable. Transforming into liquid for a faster and quieter way of traveling, he sped across the ground, intending to head straight to Artemis's cabin. He stopped however, when he saw Artemis lying on the ground right next to the canoe lake.

She was a sight to behold. Even though the moon was nowhere near full, her skin glowed with a soft silver light and her auburn hair fanned out on the ground as she stared into the sky. She looked absolutely perfect and so peaceful. Percy decided to play a prank on her, since he'd never had the chance to do so. Still in his liquid form, he quietly slipped into the lake and reformed into his human form. The he aligned himself right before her and was just about to surge up and yank her down when she spoke, her voice clear, even underwater.

"Get up Perseus. Do you really think I'd fall for the same trick twice? So get up before I pull _you_ up, by your hair." Artemis threatened.

Percy reluctantly surfaced and stood by her side.

"How did you know? I thought I was quiet!" Percy asked, curious.

"Well, just as you can sense me, I can sense you, Percy. While I cannot locate you, I will know when you are near." Artemis said, still sitting on the ground. She stood up and began walking back to her cabin, motioning to Percy to follow her. She glared at him.

"You're late."

Percy looked at his watch. 12:01.

"C'mon Arty, I'm only a minute late." Percy said, smiling as he used his newfound nickname for her.

"Fine. I suppose that you, being a slow, dumb boy, is still learning. I'll let it slide, but only if you agree not to call me 'Arty'." Artemis said, her nose wrinkling as she said Percy's nickname for her.

"Alrighty Arty." Percy said, chuckling.

Artemis ground her teeth together even as she felt her face heat up against her own will. She actually really loved it when Percy called her 'Arty', but she was finding it hard enough to block him out without any more endearments.

"I told you. Don't. Call. Me. _Arty._ " Artemis said through clenched teeth.

"C'mon Moon Beam, why not?" Percy asked, smirking as he used his other nickname for Artemis.

"Because, um, because… because, well, it's not like it's going to help with things, is it?" Artemis said, desperate for an excuse. Albeit a lame excuse. Percy knew it too and smirked.

"Nicknames aren't _supposed_ to be useful. Besides, if we're going to search for Lamia, calling you 'Artemis' will attract a lot of attention. Calling you 'Arty' won't." Percy said with a hint of triumph in his voice.

"Fine. For now. So what information did Hermes give you?" Artemis asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Oh, he told me to ask the Amazons tomorrow. Since I'm on pretty good terms with them, they should be willing to help me out." Percy replied.

Artemis nodded. "Very well. I can teleport you there-"

"No my lady. Reserve your energy. I will ask Hazel to see whether I can borrow Arion. Besides, I should catch up with them, I have not seen them for many months." Percy said.

"If you insist. In the meantime, I will go and scout for Lamia _alone._ At all times." Artemis said, staring Percy straight in the eye.

"My Lady, I can't just let you-" Percy began.

"Excuse me, but I _have_ hunted a _lot_ of monsters before you ever became my – our - Guardian. And I also sense that a powerful monster is on the loose or at least in the wild." Artemis said.

But Arty, I swore an oath and I fully intend to-"

"Percy, I know. And I know that you will never break your oath. But I know what I'm doing, and if you trust me, then you'll let me do this by myself. Besides, you swore an oath as Guardian of the _Hunt,_ so I hereby order you to protect your sisters from harm. Ok, Percy?" Artemis said softly as she reached up and laid a hand on Percy's shoulder.

Percy sighed. There was no arguing with Artemis when her mind was set, and since he loved her, he'd do anything for her. He bowed his head.

"As you wish, my lady."

Artemis smiled and couldn't help but pat his cheek. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Now come on, we're at my cabin and it's time to sleep."

"Good night then, my lady." Percy said, blushing furiously as he turned away.

"Where-where are you going?" Artemis asked in a mystified tone. "Aren't-aren't you going to sleep with us? I mean, uh, if you want to sleep in the Poseidon cabin, I understand, I-I just wanted to let you know that you're completely welcome to sleep in my cabin since you're part of the Hunt." Artemis said quickly, feeling slightly hurt that Percy didn't want to sleep in her cabin. Not that she _wanted_ him to sleep in her cabin, she quickly reassured herself.

Percy smiled. "That's a great honour, Moon Beam. But I'm going to guard and keep watch." Percy said, pointing at a tall tree that with large branches he could perch himself in.

"Oh. Why? We're safe in this camp, no monster will or can attack." Artemis asked.

Percy uttered a low growl and surveyed the surrounding areas with narrowed eyes.

"I don't trust the campers here. I trust the old campers, but I do not trust the newcomers at all. Especially the boys." Percy growled.

Artemis chuckled. "Listen to yourself, Perseus. You've become one of us. You've become a Hunter." Artemis said, smiling.

Percy returned the smile. "I've always been a Hunter at heart. I hunted down the monsters, even though technically, I'm a slayer and prey. But tell me, what happened to "slow, dumb boy"?" Percy asked, his eyes glinting.

The smile dropped off of Artemis's face. She whacked him on the arm. "When people give you compliments, you say 'thank you', you don't smart mouth them."

Percy winced as he rubbed his arm. Artemis could _really_ hit.

"Alright, I'm sorry my lady. Can't you take a joke?" Percy asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

Artemis replied by whacking him on the same spot. "No. And sense you're so kind to be on guard duty, wake me up half an hour before breakfast. Or in the morning. Your pick. If any boy gets near my cabin, take care of them." Artemis ordered.

Percy did his special bow. "Your will…Arty." Percy said, smirking.

It took all of Artemis's self-control not to smack Percy again. She gave him a good glare and retreated into her cabin. Percy straightened and grinned. He loved this new nickname for Artemis. It was so fun, and it sounded good. He'd keep on switching between 'Moon Beam' and 'Arty' just for the fun of it. He extended his wings from his back and shot into a nearby tree, easily settling down on a tree branch. His black clothing allowed him to blend completely with the shadows, and unless you shone a light on him, you'd never see or notice him. Percy stared into the sky for a couple of minutes, relaxing himself before shutting down half of his brain while the other half was completely alert and watching.

He had slept for about a couple hours when he sensed something approach Artemis's cabin. He quickly stirred himself and was fully awake and ready in half a second. He looked down and saw a single figure half walking and half loping towards the Artemis cabin. Percy grinned. Time to give him the lesson of his life. He jumped down, landing stealthily right next to Artemis's cabin. Even though her cabin was glowing silver, he had adjusted himself so that his clothes could blend into the darkness created by the forest that was behind her cabin. When the stranger had just passed him, he quietly stepped behind him and drew Riptide, placing the tip at the stranger's neck. The stranger froze.

"Who dares to sneak and snoop around Lady Artemis's cabin." He growled in a low voice.

"P-Please d-don't kil-kill me! I-I was just passing by to-to see my girlfriend Juniper. Oh! And I'm Gr-Grover Underwood, a Lo-Lord of the Wild." Grover stuttered out, scared to death and praying that he wouldn't get kill.

Percy froze. " _Grover?_ Dammit G-Man, why did you have to sneak it around like this? And why are you wearing a hood, where did your rasta cap go?" Percy asked excitedly as he lowered Riptide and capped it.

Grover slowly turned around and pulled down the hood on his hoodie. And his mouth dropped way open.

" _Percy?_ Baaaaah!Holy Zeus, where have you been the past months man! I missed you so much!" Grover practically yelled, giving Percy a huge bear hug.

"Oi Grover, nice to see you too, but can you please not yell? Everyone else is sleeping." Percy whispered.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem. Oh my gods, you've changed so _much_ Perce! You're taller, more muscular, and unless I'm wrong, Aphrodite's been hounding you, hasn't she?" Grover said.

Percy pulled back and stared at Grover. "How do you know?"

Grover grinned. "Remember, us satyrs can read emotions. And I can sense some heavy love around you, so thick that it could only come from Aphrodite. So that's how I got my conclusion."

Percy nodded. "About that… I'm really sorry I had to cut off our empathy link, G-man. It's just that, well, I wasn't feeling good that time, and your feelings might either get affected by mine or we'd conflict."

Grover jumped up and clapped Percy's shoulder. "No problem Percy. I understand, and to be honest, I was at first glad that I couldn't feel your emotions. They almost knocked me out. And since you're with Artemis, I think cutting it off would've been a wiser choice."

"How do you know that I'm with Artemis?" Percy asked, surprised.

Grover grinned again. "I'm a Lord of the Wild remember? After a while, I asked the nature spirits to find you. Except then Lord Dionysus found out and told me not to tell anyone. Also, the way you confronted me just then was extra proof that you work with Artemis."

"Hmmm, Dionysus told you not to tell anyone? I never knew he cared." Percy mused.

"He does. He hides it well, but I think that while on the outside he's rough with you, I think he actually admires you quite a bit. From what I can read in his emotions." Grover explained.

"Ahhh, ok. So what brings you back here?" Percy asked, making a mental note to hide his emotions as well as possible, since he had no intention of letting Grover know that he had fallen in love with Artemis.

"I wanted to talk to you man! The dryads sent me word and I came here fast as I could. I also heard that you killed Matthew and another lousy kid right?" Grover asked.

Percy shrugged. "Yes. I don't regret it."

"Yeah, usually I'd care, but I really hated Matthew and his lackeys, so thanks for killing him. I'm glad I can come back. C'mon Perce, let's sit down and trade stories alright? You tell me life with the Hunters, and I'll tell you how camp has been without you and stuff like that." Grover said.

"Not that I'd want to know what's happening to this blasted camp, but can't say no to catching up with my best friend now, can I?" Percy grinned sitting down on the ground and pulling Grover down beside him.

They talked for a long time, talking about the tasks that Athena had given Percy, learning that Annabeth had left him, meeting his nasty brother, becoming Hestia's champion and gaining some of her powers, learning of Triton's and Amphitrite's deception, becoming Guardian of the Hunt and finally being accepted by the Hunt. They also discussed of his return to camp and scaring the Hades out of everyone. Then Percy turned the subject away from him and they started talking about how Annabeth had literally been heartbroken, (to which Percy replied with a noncommittal shrug) and had worried Chiron, Jason, Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Reyna, the entire Athena cabin and the Stolls, along with Katie and Clarisse very much. (Which made Percy feel guilty). They talked so intensely and so much, that Percy hadn't noticed that it was morning until campers began walking out and heading towards the showers and bathrooms.

"Well Percy, I gotta go back to my nature duties and get back to Juniper. We'll talk again later alright?" Grover said as he stood up.

Percy nodded and stood too. "Alright G-Man, thanks for searching for me and coming back to see me and all that stuff."

Grover grinned. "That's what friends are for, right?" Grover gave him a cheery wave before disappearing into the forest.

 _True. That's what friends and family are for._ Percy smiled as he walked inside Artemis's cabin. The inside was very similar to the insides of their tents: simple, clean, elegant and silvery. He noticed a door at the far side, and assumed that Artemis had her own room. He quickly scanned the bunks to see if any of his sisters were awake, but they were all sleeping soundly. All the bunks were occupied, except for one, which had sea green stripes on its bedding. His bunk. Feeling touched, he walked over to Artemis's door and knocked, careful not to knock too loud so he wouldn't wake the hunters. No response. He knocked again, putting an extra bit of force into it. Still no response. Percy knelt and look at the door, noticing a small space between the door and the floor. Percy smirked as an idea came into his mind.

He transformed himself into liquid form and easily slid underneath the door, re-forming himself as he reached the center of Artemis's room. He looked around and saw that it too was simple, elegant, and clean. There were however, quite a few animal pelts hanging from the walls, along with moon designs etched into the wall. He walked over to Artemis's bed, where she was sleeping peacefully and quietly. Percy's heart got caught in his throat when he saw her, so beautiful. She looked so beautiful that he couldn't help but reach out a hand to gently stroke her cheek, just once. She shivered involuntarily at his touch but didn't flinch away. He decided that as much as he didn't want to, he'd have to wake Artemis up right now or else he'd just stand there, staring at her for eternity. He gently put a hand on her arm and shook her slightly.

She mumbled something incoherent before rolling onto her side, her back facing him. Percy rolled his eyes. She was acting just like him, when his mother had to wake him up for school. He shook her again.

"My Lady, it's morning already, wake up." Percy said, shaking her gently. Her eyes flew open at the sound of his voice.

Artemis's eyes widened as she saw Percy looming above her. " _Percy?_ What are you doing in my room?" She asked.

"Waking you up. You wouldn't answer when I knocked, so I thought I might get you up personally." Percy said simply.

"Ho-How did you get in here?" Artemis asked, still in a slight shock that Percy had bypassed her door so easily.

Percy stepped back and grinned a wolfish grin. Then he turned into a liquid form before sliding out underneath her door, back to where the Hunters were still asleep. Percy looked at his watch and decided to wake them up, since breakfast was in about 15 minutes. Percy walked over to Thalia and grinned. He'd save her for the last. Walking over to Tracy, he gently shook her awake.

"Wakey wakey, Tracy." Percy said, whipping the covers off.

"Heeeyyy…." Tracy whined as she tried to pull the covers back. "Gimme my covers back. I was really warm, and now I'm coooold."

Percy shook his head. "Find some other way to heat yourself up. Breakfast is starting soon, so chop-chop." Percy said.

Tracy peeked at Percy under her eyelids and smiled. "OK." She said. She promptly jumped into Percy's arms, digging her face into Percy's neck. "You're warm." She mumbled.

Percy sighed. He should've seen this coming. He tried to detach Tracy's arms, but she hung tighter than a straitjacket. Eventually he gave up and went to rouse the other Hunters. All but Thalia.

After some yawns and muttered complaints, they all assembled around Percy and Tracy, who was _still_ clinging onto Percy. Several of them chuckled and other smiled at the sight. It was proof on how much the Hunters cared and loved Percy.

"So I take it you're saving something special for our Lieutenant?" Phoebe said, gesturing to the sleeping Thalia.

"Oh yeah." Percy said. "Off you go, Tracy." She whined a little bit but unhooked her arms and slid to the ground.

He walked over and reached into Thalia's bag, taking out her iPod and earbuds. He had long since figured out her password, (GDAY) so the lock proved no obstacle for him. Quickly scrolling through Thalia's ginormous music library, he found Smith's 'Whip My Hair'. Thalia hated the song even more than 'Friday'. Smiling slightly, he set the volume to a reasonable volume and gently stuck the earbuds into Thalia's ears, sealing the edges with a bit of hardened water. He then covered the screen of Thalia's iPod with a layer of nonconductive ice before lifting the covers and slipping it into her pocket. The other hunters, who had been watching by his side, laughed softly.

"Ready?" Percy asked. They nodded. He pressed play.

At first, Thalia didn't move. Then her head started turning and a frown crossed her face. Later, the frown deepened and she covered her ears with her hands, which actually made the music louder since she was pushing the earbuds into her ear. After giving a growl of frustration, she sat bolt upright in her bed and began yelling into midair.

"WILL SOMEBODY TURN OFF THAT NASTY SHIT!" Thalia yelled. Percy and the hunters roared with laughter. Thalia frowned when she saw them. "Who's playing that crap?" That set off another of laughter.

"You are." Percy replied.

"What…?" Thalia reached up and seemingly felt that she had earbuds in her ears for the first time. She tried yanking them out, but yelped and tumbled out of her bunk when she nearly pulled her ears off. Everyone screamed with laughter. Thalia reached into her pocket and took out her iPod, trying to disconnect the earbuds but found them stuck. Then she tried using the screen, but since Percy had put nonconductive ice on it, the screen was useless. Thalia turned to Percy, her eyes smoldering.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!"

After a thorough beat up session, yelling and generally causing mass chaos, a smirking Thalia was free of the "nasty shit" while Percy was looking thoroughly fried and disheveled. Artemis was laughing.

"C'mon girls, it's time to eat. And really Percy, try to tame your hair down." Artemis said, smirking.

"Very funny…" Percy grumbled. All the hunters chuckled before setting out in a big group, Artemis at the very front with Percy right behind her. At first, walking to the dining pavilion was horrible, what with all the people staring and ogling at Artemis, Percy and the Hunters. However, after a couple powerful flaming eyes from the hulking and massive Percy, combined with several hilarious animal transformations from Artemis, they soon cleared off _very_ fast. Most of them.

"These new campers don't have an ounce of respect." Percy snarled under his breath as he caused his eyes to burst into flames at a boy who was staring at them. The boy screamed and ran, but not before Artemis turned him into a gerbil.

"Very true. That's why we hate it here so much." Artemis said, waving her hands and causing a snake to appear and start chasing the said gerbil.

They arrived at the dining pavilion without mishap, but about 40 some male campers were "missing".

"Lady Artemis, with all due respect, _must_ you turn them all into animals?" Chiron asked as they seated themselves at the high table.

Artemis merely shrugged nonchalantly as she stared at her hunters. "I'd prefer to sit at my own table, if that's alright with you, Chiron."

Chiron bowed. "Of course."

Artemis nodded to Percy and the two stood up and sat themselves down at the table like how they would sit back at their own camp. Artemis at the head of the table and Percy usually at the other end, even though he constantly switched. The food came and he took a quick glance. Fruit loops, French toast and fish sticks. Right now, not his cup of tea. He stood up and dumped the entire plate into the brazier, causing Artemis to look at him oddly as she felt a strong wave of food smells wash over her. Perc grinned at her as he sat down and summoned 4 grilled chicken legs. Artemis rolled her eyes. If only she'd thought of that, but now it was too late. You couldn't just ask everyone to toss away camp food and tell Percy to summon his own.

Percy was in the middle of eating his second chicken leg when Phoebe walked over and promptly sat on him, earning a 'ooomph' from him. She plucked the chicken leg out of his hand and began demolishing it, all the while leaning into Percy's chest.

Artemis smiled and couldn't help but once again feel impressed by Percy. Earning Phoebe's trust and respect was, after the Stoll brothers had tricked her, practically impossible. The fact that Percy had been able to do so was just a sign of how special and amazing he was. Percy smiled too as he summoned another chicken leg to fulfill Phoebe's unspoken question for another one.

"My my Phoebe, I never knew you had such a feminine side." Percy said, smoothing Phoebe's tangly hair down.

Phoebe blushed slightly but shrugged it off. "You weren't supposed to know. Only family should know. And that's why you know because you're family now." With that, Phoebe jumped off Percy's lap and went back to her seat. Percy was touched as the other hunters smiled at him. He really had found his family now. And with Artemis…well, he'd just do what he can.

They finished breakfast in relative peace and quiet, with the occasional glare and warning sign directed at the other campers. Artemis stood, Percy and the hunters followed suit. Once they were a healthy distance away from everyone, Artemis turned to address everyone.

"Alright, as I told Percy last night, I will be searching and tracking down Lamia _alone._ In the meantime, I will also look at a powerful monster that seems to be on the loose. While I am gone, Percy will stay here. I ordered him. He'll continue teaching you in sword and knife fighting, and maybe even help you girls on throwing knives since he seems to be so good at them." Artemis said.

Her hunters nodded. Then Diana raised her hand. Artemis nodded at her.

"Yes?"

"Well my lady, what were you and Percy doing together last night?" Diana asked slyly.

Both of them blushed. "Perseus was late, so I was giving him a lecture. Speaking of which, Perseus, you better hurry up and get to the Amazons and come back, I don't want to leave my hunters alone for too long. One is because they might kill a demigod, and two is they'll get bored without someone to play with." Artemis said, her lips quirking into a smile as she said the last part.

Percy nodded. "Then I shall leave right now, my lady."

"I too will go now." Artemis said. "Good luck."

"Good luck to you too my lady." Percy said. Artemis nodded and disappeared into a fine silvery mist.

"Alright Thals, you can take care of yourself right? I"ll be gone for a few hours, since it'll take a while for even the fastest horse on this planet to get to Seattle." Percy asked.

"Of course. We'll practice archery and play our own little games while you're away. And if something happens, we'll always send an Iris Message." Thalia said.

"Alright then. If you'll excuse me, I must go find Hazel. Or Frank. Probably both." Percy said, walking off in search of Hazel. It wasn't hard. There seemed to be a small crowd near the borders of camp, and as Percy walked closer, he saw that the Immortal Campers were standing there, right next to Arion and a large chariot. Most of the Immortal Campers were already seated, with the exception of Hazel, Nico and Leo, who were thoroughly checking everything. He walked up to them.

"Hey Hazel, where are you guys going?" Percy called out.

"We're going back to Camp Jupiter for some…stuff. Then we're coming back." Hazel called back.

"Would you mind if I hitch a ride with you guys? I need to go to Seattle." Percy said.

"Of course! Um, you're going to have to ask Arion first actually…" Hazel said, glancing uncertainly at Arion, who looked _very_ impatient. Percy walked over to him and gave him a light slap to his flank.

Hey Arion, how's it going? You all healed up and everything from those wounds Leon gave you?Percy asked. During one of their quests to stop Gaea, the fire giant Leon had nearly killed Frank by burning his stick and Hazel, along with Arion had rescued him. Unfortunately, Leon had dealt some serious wounds onto Arion, so they were unable to bring him during their quest in Greece. Now however, he seemed quite healthy.

 **WARNING: UNCENSORED PROFANITY COMING UP. SKIP ARION'S DIALOUGE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT.**

 _Pffft. Leon? That stupid, rat-ass sucking, pig-shit eating, motherfucking, shit sucking, chicken raping, gods-damned whore dropping? It's going to take a_ LOT _more than those minor flesh wounds dealt by the turd-dipped asshole to make_ ME _stay down._ Arion replied haughtily.

Percy winced. "Arion, watch your language. Seriously. If you don't keep it clean, I'll clean it out for you. Literally." Percy said, a ball of water forming in his hand.

Arion glared at him. _Fine. I'll try to control my language, but only because you're here, and because you're a Son of Poseidon._

"Thank you. Does that I can hitch a ride in your chariot?"

 _Yes, human brother. Gods, you humans are so dense. I'd much rather kick that chubby, Asian baby out, but he's my mistresses boyfriend, so I can't do nothin'._ Arion grumbled.

Percy grinned at Hazel. "He says yes."

Hazel smiled right back. "That's great! What else did he say?" Hazel asked as she high-fived him.

"Ehhh, well, if I were to censor it, almost everything he said would be asterisks." Percy replied.

Hazel shuddered. "Forget that I asked." Percy chuckled as he climbed into the chariot, and since Reyna insisted that he sit there, he sat between Reyna and Leo. The downside to it was that it was right across from where Annabeth was sitting, who was currently shrinking herself into a small ball and looking everywhere but Percy. The other campers saw it, gave quiet sighs.

"Alright everyone, hold on tight!" Hazel yelled.

Everyone gripped the edges of the chariot tightly and an instant later, they shot forward like a rocket while Leo screamed. After a while, things calmed down a bit and they could sit up straight, even though Leo's eyes were bugging out.

"Where do we go first? Seattle or Camp Jupiter?" Hazel called out to them.

"Um, Camp Jupiter!" Jason called back, but then he turned to Percy. "Um, if that's alright with you Percy." Percy nodded. "Ok, Camp Jupiter, definitely!" Jason confirmed.

Hazel nodded and bent down to talk to Arion. Suddenly a dull boom was heard around them as Arion increased his speed.

"Holy mother, holy mother, how fast are we going?" Leo shrieked.

"No idea. Definitely faster than sound though, even though I don't think Arion can keep this speed up." Percy said.

"Oh good, oh good. Cause I really don't want to throw up…" Leo said, clutching his stomach.

"Well Repair Boy, if you ever feel like throwing up, please puke outside the chariot." Piper said.

"No problem at all Beauty Queen!" Leo said, throwing her a wink before his eyes suddenly widened. "Uh oh." He promptly hung half of his body out of the chariot as he threw up noisily. He came back up sweaty faced and very green looking.

"Next time, do it _quietly._ " Annabeth grumbled, still not looking anywhere near Percy.

"Tell me, what stuff do you guys need to do at Camp Jupiter?" Percy asked. While he cared about Camp Jupiter about as much as he cared about Camp Half-Blood right now, he still hated Octavian and wouldn't like him taking control.

Reyna tensed up. "It's Octavian. As usual. He stayed low after you beat him up, but he's becoming bolder again, spouting worthless prophecies like "The Hero of Olympus is dead" or things like that. What makes it even worse is that people are listening to him _again._ "

"Yeah. That nasty piece of work does nothing but walk around and read "prophecies" from _scrolls_ this time. Not teddy bears. Scrolls." Jason growled.

"Hmm, perhaps he should be taught a lesson. Would you like me to kill him?" Percy asked. They flinched and stared at him, even Annabeth stared at him. He looked around in confusion. "What?"

"You really have changed, haven't you. Before, I don't think you would have been able to kill a non-monster being, and now you're just offering to kill him?" Reyna asked. Her question mirrored the other camper's thoughts.

Percy shrugged. "As long as the death is for a just and good cause, it is completely justifiable. If the person extreme bad in his life, death would be a blessing."

"That's true, but still…" Jason said.

"Alright, if you don't want me to kill him, I have another way of keeping him alive and making sure he suffers. Just leave it to me." Percy said, a plan already sprouting in his head. Damn, Athena's blessing was very powerful. Before, he would never have thought of plans, but now, he was thinking up plans left and right with ease.

Jason looked at him warily. "As long as it doesn't include mass beating and lots of blood, go ahead."

"Oh no, it won't. At least, I'm not sure. I won't be controlling it. But anyways, since we have quite a bit of time, why don't you tell me how Camp Jupiter is? How's life been and all that?" Percy asked, deciding to deflect the subject away from himself. Each of them instantly launched into a long and detailed timeline of what they had done at Camp Jupiter, what was changing and what was staying the same.

Over the next several hours, Percy learned that Camp Jupiter still had only one Pegasus, Scipio, which belonged to Reyna, but they had changed the rules to their war games, where they had a border and you had to cross into friendly territory with the enemy's flag to count. Just like Camp Half Blood's Capture the Flag game. He also learned that the Romans were going to add showers to complement their fantastic baths, so if you just wanted a quick rinse, you'd take a shower, while if you wanted to soak in a tub full of hot, soapy water, then you'd take a bath.

However, noticeably absent from the conversation was Annabeth. She just sat there, facing outward, watching the land roll past while occasionally nodding to something they had said. While Annabeth hid it well, Percy could clearly see fresh tear streaks down her cheeks and her face was depressed, while her normally intense grey eyes were dull. Percy sighed internally. If Annabeth didn't get any better after a couple weeks like what Athena said, he'd have to talk to her. Which he really didn't want to. Soon, Percy recognized the landscape that went zooming past, and he knew that they would be at Camp Jupiter any second. Percy saw Caldecott Tunnel and fully expected Arion to stop, but Arion just continued, blasting past the Camp Jupiter's borders and only stopping when they were in the middle of the Field of Mars.

"Why did he stop here?" Percy asked Hazel.

Hazel shrugged. "Beats me. Probably because the Field of Mars is big so he has some room to run around?" She answered as she bent down and summoned a large bar of solid gold, giving it to a panting Arion who eagerly started tearing the metal apart. "You alright, Arion?"

 _Of course I'm alright! Don't you dare think that my wounds from that douchebag would hold me back!_ Arion whinnied angrily, even though he was panting hard.

"Ok, while I can't understand you, I know you're angry. I apologize." Hazel said. Arion instantly cheered up and nuzzled Hazel. Percy laughed.

"Look, the welcoming party has already arrived." Jason said, pointing towards an entire crowd of campers. "Seems like the entire camp is here. That's not good. We leave for what, a week at most, and Octavian has them all under his thumb? I hope not."

"No. Most are only curious. The ones surrounding him in a circle, now _those_ are his supporters. Like fanatical supporters." Reyna pointed out.

"Old friends, welcome back to Camp Jupiter, and so nice to see that you're all still in one piece. I cannot tell you how _glad_ and _happy_ I am, since if anything were to happen to our precious praetors would be _disastrous,_ seeing as we cannot trust _all_ the Greeks." Octavian said in a flattering voice.

"Cut the crap, Octavian, before I actually do kill you." Percy growled as he stepped forward.

"Ha! You wouldn't dare kill _me,_ I am too important to this Camp! I am the Augur of Camp Jupiter, reader of prophecies, and-"

"And a fat liar, yeah. We already know that, Octavian."

"Who are you? How dare you trespass on Roman territory? Who are you? _Answer me,_ or I'll _force_ you." Octavian yelled.

"I answer only to Lady Artemis. I don't even answer to all the Olympians. And I certainly won't answer to _you,_ you weakling scumbag." Percy snapped.

"A male who answers to Diana? You lie! No male ever answers to Diana and lives! So tell me the truth. Remove that hood and sunglasses of yours, or are you too weak and cowardly to do so?" Octavian yelled triumphantly.

Percy slowly walked over to Octavian, his boots making distinct crunches on the gravel. He towered over Octavian.

"You never learn from your previous lessons, do you? Must I call Percy to beat you up again?"

"You cannot scare me. Percy Jackson is dead, I saw it in my auguries." Octavian said, smirking.

Percy smirked too. "Would you bet your life on it? In front of witnesses?" Percy asked.

Octavian hesitated. If he declined, that meant he was not sure about his own auguries, which would greatly reduce his power. If he agreed, there was always the chance that he could lose.

"As long as you swear in front of everyone that you can prove otherwise." Octavian said as confidently as he could.

"Very well. I agree." Percy said, sneering as he did so to cover up a huge grin that threatened to come over his face.

"I agree too. I can say for certain that in my auguries, Percy Jackson was exiled from Camp Half Blood and disappeared, which obviously meant that he died." Octavian said triumphantly. "So what proof can you give?"

"This." Percy growled before pulling his hood back and taking off his sunglasses. Everyone, except for the Immortal Campers, gasped loudly. Octavian was stunned speechless. He hastily took several steps backwards as Percy slowly advanced forward.

"I guess we all know what this comes down to, eh?" Percy said in a low voice.

"No…you can't! I'm an augur, I'm very important!" Octavian screeched.

"You just proved that your "auguries" were incorrect. You bet on it with your life. I am completely entitled to kill you, right here and right now. That is the Roman way, is it not?" Percy said in the same, low voice.

"I-I-I didn't swear on the Styx. Isn't that what you Greeks call a true binding oath?" Octavian stuttered out, desperate for an excuse.

Percy laughed, but the laugh was a cold, bone-chilling laugh. "Perhaps, but remember when I swore on my life that the Greeks arriving in the _Argo II_ were trustworthy, you kept on trying to set the Greeks up so you could kill me. And I never backed down from my promise. Why should you?"

"P-Please, you're a Greek, have mercy on me. Please." Octavian begged, falling to his knees.

"A Roman begging for his life? That is not very Roman of you, Octavian." Percy sneered.

"I know. I'm a lame excuse for a Roman. But please, Greeks are merciful, please spare my life. I promise not to cause any more trouble for Jason or Reyna. I'll listen to them like an obedient servant. And besides, Greek campers are very cheerful and nice. Please." Octavian begged again.

Percy shook his head. "That's where you are wrong, Octavian. I am not a Greek, nor am I a Roman. I am both. And you should know, I am not a camper. I am a Hunter."

Percy reached down and grabbed Octavian by his throat, easily lifting him into the air as he began choking him.

"You..you kill me, Apollo will-hhurrckk" Octavian choked.

"I don't give a _shit_ about Apollo. And besides, there are worse things than death." Percy growled before he tightened his grip. He kept it up for five more seconds before dropping Octavian onto the ground. He crumpled like a ragdoll, unconscious. He bent down and felt his chest, detecting a faint heartbeat. Good. He stood and turned to face his friends.

"Do whatever you need to finish here. I'm going to Seattle." Percy said.

Jason nodded. "Do you want us to wait for you with Arion?"

"No. I can fly home. Good luck." Percy said. He bent down again and slung Octavian's body over his shoulder and extended his wings from within his body. Again, the Roman campers jumped and flinched when they saw his wings. Percy smirked. They hadn't even seen his fire powers yet.

"Wait! We haven't seen how skilled or how powerful you are. You could've just set Octavian up! You're probably the weakling that Octavian said you are!" A boy yelled at him. Percy recognized him as one of Octavian's "fanatic" supporters, as Reyna called it. He decided to teach the fanatic a lesson.

Dumping Octavian unceremoniously on the ground, he walked over to the boy and with a lightning fast strike, folded him in half with a solid punch to the solar plexus. Percy then picked the boy up in one hand and twirled him around several times before flipping him over so he was holding him by his feet. He tossed the boy straight up and aimed a powerful kick right at the boy's chest. Several loud cracks were heard when his foot connected with the boy's chest, causing him to fly a hundred feet while performing super-fast backflips thanks to Percy's kick and the placement of his kick. The boy landed in an undignified heap, groaning.

"Now who's the weak one?" Percy snarled. He turned away and bent to pick up Octavian when he heard Nico's shout of warning.

"Percy! Another! Behind you!" Nico yelled.

Percy whirled and grabbed the swinging kick that was supposed to send him tumbling. "Only dishonourable and disgusting people attack from behind." Percy growled. He brought his left hand down in a karate chop, right at the boy's knee. A loud snap was heard and the boy screamed with pain. Percy mercilessly kicked the boy's groin before sweeping his other leg out from underneath him, causing the boy to crash face first into the dirt. He turned to Nico.

"Thank you Nico." Percy said.

"You're welcome. See you later then?"

Percy nodded and picked up the unconscious Octavian, but was stopped by another kid. He looked up in exasperation. _Another_ fanatic.

"What do you want, kid?" Percy asked angrily.

"You're not taking Octavian anywhere, unless it's over my dead body." He said, drawing his sword out.

Percy's anger blew. He decided then that he was going to teach everyone a lesson that would really stick in their heads.

"So be it." Percy said, uncapping Riptide. However, he didn't draw the second one out. He beckoned for the boy to come forward. The boy leaped forward with a yell and brought his sword down in a powerful swing. Percy counted it with an upswing that met the boy's blade perfectly and knocked the sword right out of his hand. Then he brought the sword back down and put the place where the blade and the hilt met right at the boy's throat.

The boy froze and Percy smiled cruelly. Using his left hand, he grabbed the boy's head and with his right hand, he slowly and deliberately cut his throat, using the entire length of his blade to do so. It was, for the boy, a very painful process as he could feel his own blood being pumped out of his neck and flowing down his chest. When Percy was done, the boy was half decapitated. He let the boy fall with a casual push. Wiping his sword on the dead boy's clothes, he picked up Octavian, jumped into the air and with a flap of his wings, was airborne.

"Well… that was…nasty." Nico said. Everyone agreed in hushed whispers. For a Son of Hades to think something was awful took a lot.

"Well… on the bad side, I have a feeling we won't be seeing our old friend Octavian anymore, Jason." Reyna said cheerily, even though her facial expression was one of absolute sadness.

"Yeah… what a sad day, we lose our "augur"." Jason said, following suit, but ruining it by laughing. "Now come on, let's do what we came here to do."

Percy flew at high speed towards the Amazon headquarters. While he was flying, he was thinking on just how fickle human nature was. When he had come back with the Twelfth Legion standard from Alaska and defeated Polybotes, they had hailed him the greatest thing to grace their camp, greater even than Jason Grace. After beating up their "precious" augur, he was cast out as a brutal and cruel Greek. Now they wanted him back. The only thing he could wish for now was that Jason and Piper will have a happy forever time with each other, and Jason and Reyna will be successful praetors.

He had almost reached the Amazon's headquarters when Octavian began twitching and struggling. Seizing upon the chance to hit him, Percy bashed the top of Octavian's head with his fist, taking especial pleasure at the loud sound his fast made when it hit Octavian's head. He instantly went limp. He circled above the Amazon HQ, trying to figure out how to get in without any of the mortals seeing him. He couldn't change into a crane and carry Octavian, he was too heavy. Then it hit him. He summoned a pool of water and pushed it to the ground behind the Amazon headquarters. Thickening the water so that it was jelly like, he dropped Octavian. As he dropped him, Percy turned into a crane and gracefully glided down before reforming back into his human form.

Picking Octavian up again, he walked over to a door and pounded on it. An instant later, the door opened to reveal a women dressed in a business suit.

"Excuse me, but this isn't the front door." The women said with an innocent smile.

Percy snorted. "Cut the crap. I need to see Hylla for a couple favors."

The women gasped. "Oh my god, you're Percy Jackson!" She squealed. Without warning, she yanked him in and began dragging him through many corridors, yelling Percy's name. Percy groaned as tons of Amazons surrounded him. There was almost no need for darkening the secret passage, there were so many Amazons that he could barely see anything. When the guards to the throne room saw the mob and Percy, they cheered too and practically threw the door open. They stampeded right into Hylla's throne room.

"WHAT IS THIS RACKET!" Hylla's voice screeched through the air.

Everyone parted so Hylla could clearly see the dark form of Percy, with Octavian slung over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

"Percy!" Hylla said happily, getting off her throne and giving Percy a quick but firm hug. She pulled back and slapped him on the shoulder. "So why did you come here?"

"Yay, you're back!" Kinzie squealed, jumping on top of Percy and knocking Octavian to the ground.

"Ugh, please Kinzie, can you get off me." Percy grumbled as he picked himself up from the ground. "Anyways Hylla, well, I came here asking for a favour or two."

Hylla nodded. "Long as it's reasonable. And what the Hades is Octavian doing here?"

"Oh, that's part of the favour." Percy said, walking over to the half-conscious Octavian and delivering him a swift kick to the temple, which instantly knocked him out again. "Octavian here has decided to, ah, _retire_ from being augur of Camp Jupiter, and has decided to spend the rest of his life having… " _fun."_ Savvy?

Hylla raised an eyebrow as she smiled. "Yes. Amazons, take this boy and give him the most _relaxing_ jobs. But remember, don't give him any _delicate_ tasks because he's so _strong._ " Hylla said, smirking.

The Amazons struggled to hold back their smiles as they bowed and several of them picked Octavian up by his feet, purposely letting his head bounce on the ground.

"So Percy, that's one favour done. What's the second?" Hylla asked cheerfully.

"Well, it's a bit bigger. Do you know or can you track down where Lamia is? And also, what information can you tell me about her?" Percy said.

"Come. It's lunch time. We'll talk while we eat." Hylla said, clapping Percy's arm and walking off towards their dining department. While he followed, he spotted a peculiar vambrace on her arm.

"If I may ask… what's that vambrace on your arm?" Percy asked.

"This? Remember that computer game I told you to play while you were here? Well, we made a perfect, working replica of the hidden blade. What do you think?" Hylla said, taking the hidden blade off her forearm and tossing it to Percy.

Percy caught it and examined it. It was certainly high quality craftsmanship, and when he activated the blade, it slid in and out silently. Thanks to his Athena-blessed brain, Percy automatically began analyzing it and began running virtual battles in his head, observing the pros and cons of this specific piece of weaponry. And while he deemed that it was a good stealth weapon, it made an awful all-out attacking weapon. When you're in the middle of monster fighting, surrounded, monsters didn't wait one at a time to attack, and nor did they have a very specific fighting style. They also didn't attack with just one strike. The blade was under the hand, which meant you had to keep your wrists locked to use the blade, which was just horrible. However, if you were to put the blade on the top, _above_ your forearm…

Percy was shaken from his thoughts as he heard clapping and cheering. He looked up in shock and found that he was sitting at a table, with Hylla and Kinzie flanking him while he faced dozens of Amazons. Hylla had just finished her speech, which was why people were clapping. They were cheering too, probably because of him.

"Very interesting blade you have here. Impressive quality too." Percy told Hylla, handing it back to her.

"Thanks." Hylla said as they began eating. "So, about tracking Lamia, that's no problem. We have a lot of people in the UPS, and a couple in the USPS, so I'll tell all of them to keep an eye out for that disgusting bitch. No people in Fedex though, but I suppose that doesn't matter. If we get a positive and a confirmation, we'll Iris-Message you."

"Thank you very much. Now, what can you tell me about Lamia?" Percy asked.

"You're welcome. Well, she's your half-sister, eats children, loves males, loves eating _handsome_ males." At this, Hylla wiggled her eyebrows at him and mouthed 'Reyna' before continuing. Percy rolled his eyes. "She is quite powerful, a single slash won't kill her, you'll have to wound her big time to kill her, extremely tricky, and has an effect more powerful than _empousai_. Quite a formidable foe." Hylla finished.

Percy nodded. "What type of weapon does she use?"

"She uses a dagger… but with your plethora of weapons, I don't think you need to worry." Hylla replied, eyeing Percy's numerous chains, his dagger sheathe and his throwing knife sheathes.

Percy grinned. "Got this from Aphrodite, it's actually pretty useful."

"Does Artemis approve?"

"How did you know?" Percy asked.

"Thalia told me. We've become fast friends." Hylla said, grinning at Percy's bemusement.

Percy groaned. How many people knew that he was a Guardian of the Hunt? They finished the meal in relative silence, broken only by Hylla asking a couple question of how life was with the Hunters, and by Kinzie and several dozen Amazons who just wanted his attention.

"Thank you for your hospitality, but I really must get going." Percy said to the disappointment of the Amazons. Hylla however, understood.

"Of course. We're glad you came, because even with the updates that Thalia gave us, we would still worry that you were dead." Hylla said, winking.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the reassurance, Hylla." Percy said sarcastically.

"See you later Percy. Good luck and be careful when you fight Lamia." Hylla said, pulling Percy into another hug.

"Thanks for your and all your Amazons help, Hylla. And don't worry, I'll be careful." Percy said.

"Take the exit right there and take the elevator. The first one you see. Ground level is the button to press." Hylla said, pulling out of the hug.

Percy nodded and went straight through the exit…and walked right into the elevator doors. There was a clang as he smashed right into the door, a split-second later, they opened.

"Percy! You weren't supposed to walk in so fast!" Hylla's voice drifted to him as the Amazons laughed. "And be careful, the elevator is-"

Percy grumbled and thumbed the 'Close doors' button before Hylla could finished. Bad idea. He hit the 'ground' button. For a second, nothing worked. Then with a bang, he crashed to the floor as the elevator shot up so fast he felt as if he were being sucked into a black hole. Then, with the same abruptness, the elevator stopped, throwing Percy into the ceiling with a crash. He barely had time to register the fact that he was on the ceiling before he fell back down onto the floor hard, shaking the entire elevator. He stumbled to his feet, swearing and groaning. He stumbled out of the Amazon doors, went to the backyard and shot into the air.

He pumped his wings hard, pushing himself past the sound barrier, hoping that he was small enough not to shake the houses on the ground. He considered whether to go to camp, or to go straight to Aphrodite and get the dinner business over. He looked at the sun. It was still high up, but it would take roughly 4 hours or more to reach camp. He decided to go to camp, since he wanted to check up on his little sisters. He would go to Aphrodite after Artemis had come back.

He had been flying for about three hours when he heard a sonic boom that definitely wasn't his own. He looked down with his eagle-like vision and found a huge plume of dust. He looked ahead of the dust and found a chariot with a horse. Arion and the Immortal Campers. Deciding to have fun with them, he pumped his wings even harder and pushed himself to his limit. Unfortunately, all he seemed to be able to do was catch up with Arion. Damn, that horse was fast.

 _Hahahaha, you're slower than I am, human brother. You fail._ A voice penetrated into Percy's mind.

 _Arion! Yeah, you think so?_ Percy shot back.

 _You bet._ Came Arion's smug reply. Not even waiting for Percy to answer, Arion suddenly increased his speed almost two times.

 _Ah hell…_ Percy thought as he struggled to catch up.

Both Percy and Arion arrived at Camp at the same time, and the same way. The instant Arion crossed the camp borders, he collapsed. The instant Percy got near the camp borders, he let his wings loose and glided down, plowing a trench in the ground before stopping next to Arion.

"Uhhhh… arrckck… So Arion, was that…fast enoughffff…?" Percy gasped out, unable to stop himself from slurring the last word.

 _Noo… that was too…sssslow._ Arion replied. _I need…need goold.._

Percy took out his flask of ambrosia and took a swig, feeling slightly refreshed. He called to Hazel.

"Hazel… Arion needs gold right now." Percy said.

Hazel nodded and summoned several bars of it, putting in front of Arion's mouth. Arion was so tired, he could only nibble on the gold. Percy chuckled slightly. Thanks to his Hunter training, his regeneration time was far better than it was before. Already he was feeling better. He stumbled to his feet and looked at his watch. 6 o'clock. Dang, they managed to complete the trip in 3 hours and 50 minutes.

"Yo Kelp Head, you alright?" Leo asked, bouncing over and slapping Percy on the shoulder.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you very much. I'll see you guys later, I have to check on the hunters." Percy said, walking off towards the archery arena, where he expected them to be. Surprisingly ,they were in the dueling arena, and literally whipping the asses of the campers. Percy stopped when he saw the sight. About twenty boys were lying face down on the ground, groaning. Many of them had stick up hair and fried clothes, while others looked like they had been crushed by a large person. Percy heard a yell and saw Phoebe kick a boy right in the butts before twirling him around and delivering similar treatment to the boy's groin.

"Phoebe! Thalia! Tracy! What have you girls been doing since my absence?" Percy asked incredulously.

"Oh, we've been having fun, Coral Boy." Thalia said cheerfully. All the hunters came over and gave him a giant group hug before pulling away. "We've also been practicing our chain and knife skills. You're late, by the way. And you seem tired, what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing. Just had a small race against Arion." Percy said.

"Small my ass. You had a cross-country race with him, didn't you. That's dangerous Percy, you could've overstressed yourself." Thalia said, caring in her eyes.

Percy laughed. "Don't worry Thals, I haven't met anything that stresses me more than you girls. And I certainly don't intend to die, so you have nothing to worry about."

"You better. Because you still haven't caught your _lady_ yet." Christy said, smirking as she hopped onto Percy's back. Percy blushed as the hunters smirked and chuckled. "I-I uh, don't have a lady that I want to go after?"

"Whatever. But I got on your back for another reason." Christy said.

"What." Percy asked.

"TACKLE!" Tracy yelled, launching herself at Percy's legs, causing him to fall down. Percy gave a muffled yell while the hunters screamed with laughter and piled him. After an hour's worth of stalemate tackling, the hunters finally managed to pin him down, with Tracy sitting on his back as usual, Phoebe sitting on his butt, a couple hunters sitting on both of his legs, and Thalia taking her usual position. Which was his head. The rest of the hunters had each planted a foot on him. And while Thalia had the decency to move Percy's head to the side so he could breathe, Percy found it very discomforting.

"Alright sisters, you win. _Again._ " Percy mumbled. "Now Thalia, please move your ass off my head."

"We're not moving. We're a bit too comfortable. Besides, we're tired. We've been training all day. Getting ready for Capture the Flag." Thalia said cheerily. "Oi, stop moving your head, rocks aren't supposed to move."

"Then get off my head! This isn't very appropriate, Thalia. And how the _Hades_ does tackling me and _sitting on my head_ supposed to help in Capture the Flag?" Percy asked.

"Your head is too comfortable. Nice and flat. Thick too. Well, you see, we were thinking that if we can take you down, then we can take them down." Thalia explained.

"I wasn't even fighting back. And I was unarmed. The campers during Capture the Flag will be bloody and they'll use weapons."

Phoebe snorted derisively. "Yeah, we've seen how they "fight". I call it dancing. Poor dancing."

"Well then, if you want to really win at Capture the Flag, then I still have a _lot_ to teach you girls." Percy said. "So get off my head, Thalia!"

"He's right. Percy has a lot to teach you, and while I'm glad that you girls are enjoying yourselves, it's about time to get serious. Lamia is a dangerous monster, and if I'm correct, there is another monster we _might_ have to take care of. Now let's go, dinner is starting soon and after I've talked to Perseus, I want to tell you girls what I've discovered." Artemis's voice cut clean through the air.

"Your will, my lady." Thalia said, getting off Percy's head. The other hunters slowly got off, even though Tracy gave him a big hug before getting off. Percy slowly got to his feet. While he'd never say it in front of Arion, his back _hurt._

"Hello Arty. Good hunting?" Percy asked as cheerfully as he could, straightening his back and wincing at the cracks he heard.

"I told you, don't call me _Arty._ " Artemis grumbled.

"Ok Moon Beam, how about I get to call you Arty and you can call me Perseus."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I've been calling you 'Perseus' since forever, and you never cared. But whatever, back to the subject. From the five states that I swept through, I found traces of Lamia in three of them. However, all five of them has a powerful monster scent in them."

Percy frowned. "What's this monster? Is it very dangerous?"

"It's pretty dangerous. It has always been active, but we have never seen any need to eliminate it or its owner because they keep their presence low. But as to who the monster is, it's Echidna and the Chimera." Artemis said.

"Oh. Echidna and the Chihuahua. Met them at the top of the St. Louis Arch. Not nice. Fire breathing and poisonous. Nasty pieces of work." Percy said. "Do we have to fight them?"

Artemis thought about it before she answered. "No. Unless they specifically hunt us, or cause us trouble, no. Like I said, they haven't attacked anyone or anything, just that they seem a lot more active lately."

They arrived at the dining pavilion and quickly took their seats. When Percy came back from his ritual sacrifice, he continued the conversation.

"Why is it that the monsters seem so active? I thought after Gaia's defeat, the monsters would quiet down." Percy asked.

"I do not know. But it's like what Zeus said, even after her defeat, the monster will be quite active for the next century or so. You should actually thank Gaia. If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't even be here with us." Artemis said, involuntarily smiling at him.

Percy couldn't help but smile right back. "You're right. I suppose every cloud has a silver lining. I really love it here." Percy said, smiling fondly at his sisters-by-bonding.

"So how was your trip to the Amazons? Was it fruitful? And why is it that Ares seems to be so angry about something that happened at Camp Jupiter?" Artemis asked.

"Camp Jupiter? Oh, that's nothing. Small business. With the Amazons, they said that they'll try to track Lamia down, since they have a lot of people in UPS and quite a few in the USPS. Hermes also said that he'd help if he had time and could remember." Percy replied.

"Good. The faster we kill Lamia, the better. I may be able to sweep through states quickly, but there are a lot of states. And lots of land. And before you say that you want to help me out, the answer is no. Train your sisters, and make me proud." Artemis said as Percy opened his mouth.

"Your wish, my lady. And don't worry, I'll make you proud, Arty." Percy said.

 _You already make me proud Perseus. But I'm not saying it, because I don't want to admit…it._ Artemis thought.

Artemis finished her food at the same time Percy finished his own. "May I leave for a bit? I have some stuff to do." Percy asked her.

She actually wanted him to stay at her side when she talked to her hunters about Lamia, but she knew that Percy would obediently stay quiet and then ask her again. And again. And again.

"Very well, you have my permission. But make sure you're back by midnight _sharp._ " Artemis said, emphasizing the last word. Percy did his special bow and walked off.

Percy walked around aimlessly for a few minutes as he thought about the his dinner plans with Artemis and the Hunters. He'd have to find a way to conceal the Apples, get them to eat it, and make them unaware that they were eating the apples. Which would be pretty hard, since from what he'd learned from Annabeth, the Apples were so exquisite that even a god would find it impossibly pleasurable. Percy stopped at that thought. Did he want to eat the Apples? Did his sisters _want_ to become truly immortal?

And Artemis… it would be rude and unforgiveable to leave her out. Percy went back and forth for a while before ultimately deciding that he would give Artemis the Apple. He would not. It was worth letting her have the pleasure of eating the Apple, since he loved her too much to take the Apple for himself. Besides, he didn't have direct permission to eat one anyways. And his sisters… they were his family and he had bonded closely with them, especially with Thalia and Tracy, and Percy couldn't bear if any of the hunters were to die. Percy decided he would drop the question as casually as he could, and pray that they wanted to stay truly immortal. As for the disguise… he'd have to ask Aphrodite. Ugh.

"Percy! There you are! C'mon, mum wants to talk to you." Someone called to him. He turned. It was Piper.

"She wants to talk to me? Wow, she must be more excited about the idea than I originally thought…" Percy commented.

Piper's multi-coloured eye seemed to sharpen. "What idea is it?" she asked as she walked to her cabin with Percy in tow.

"Oh it's nothing. Don't worry, I'm not into relationships, I just needed your mums help, as much as I don't want it…" Percy grumbled.

Piper laughed. "Is it because she's hitting on you?"

"How did you know?"

"I could kind of tell when Aphrodite told me to fetch you. Also, I will warn you that she is wearing beach attire." Piper said. Percy's expression turned to one of absolute horror.

"If it wasn't for Ar- meh, I wouldn't be doing this…" Percy groaned.

"R? So you _are_ doing this for someone then." Piper said, looking Percy straight in the eye.

"Maybe. But I'm not telling." Percy said.

"I could just ask my mom you know. Or I could charmspeak you." Piper said, her eyes glinting mischievously.

Percy snorted. "Yeah right. Only worked twice on me. Remember the last time you tried to charmspeak me?"

Piper winced. She had charmspoken Percy three times and no more. The first was a demonstration, the second was used to force Percy from ripping Octavian's head off, and the third time, well, just for a prank she had charmspoken Percy into giving Thalia a wedgie, but it had backfired. Percy had obediently followed her orders and walked past her when Percy suddenly gave her a hard wedgie. It seemed like Percy had built resistance to it, which rendered her charmspeak useless. It was an impressive feat, seeing as she had even managed to slow Gaea down and influenced several gods with her charmspeaking powers.

"Perhaps. But mom's charmspeaking powers can control anyone. Well, except for the three virgin goddesses, since they're immune to Aphrodite's love magic." Piper said. "Anyways, we're here. In you go."

Percy stopped as he realized that Piper had brought him to the Aphrodite cabin. "Why here?"

"Stop asking questions." Piper said, opening the door and pushing Percy inside. The instant Percy stepped inside, he crushed a rose underneath his foot and before he knew it, was instantly teleported to Aphrodite's palace.

He reappeared in Aphrodite's living room, where she was sprawled on a couch, wearing a skimpy bikini. She looked at him seductively.

"Want to join me?" She asked.

Percy snorted and sat down on the sofa furthest away from her. "Really? Why couldn't you just come down and teleport me? Why go and ask Piper to get me to your cabin? Do you know how ridiculous that looks, me walking into your cabin?"

"Yes, well, since Artemis is one of the three goddess my powers are absolutely _useless_ over, I need to mess with her feelings by indirect means. You'll see what I'm doing in the future. Now, are you _sure_ you don't want to join me? I can tell you're tired, I could give you a nice massage." Aphrodite crooned.

Percy responded with a glare that spoke volumes.

"Fine." Aphrodite pouted. She disappeared from her couch and reappeared on top of Percy. "Now, I won't do anything, but if you move or struggle, then I won't help. Understand?"

Percy gritted his teeth. Aphrodite was seriously becoming _really_ annoying. However, the look in Aphrodite's eyes made it clear that she was serious about what she just said. Stiffly, he nodded his head.

"Good. Now, about the restaurant, I've already made reservations, everything is already paid for, courtesy of Hermes, so all that's left to decide is what food to order. We can pre-order that too. So, what do you think?" Aphrodite said, pressing herself against Percy and grinding her hips against his.

"Aphrodite… you said you wouldn't do anything." Percy growled out.

Aphrodite looked into his eyes and was surprised to find real anger smoldering in his eyes, as they seemed to be on the verge of bursting into flames. Damn, but he was a hard catch. Aphrodite sniffled and stopped her hips, even though she continued to press herself against him.

"Good enough I suppose… about the food, I have absolutely no idea what to order. That _is_ the reason why I asked you for help." Percy said.

"Hmmmm, what about the Grand Plateau de Fruits de Mer? It's delicious." Aphrodite said, slowly moving her hands toward the hem of Percy's shirt. He caught it however, and slapped it away. She sniffled again.

"What the hell is that? Please, can you speak plain English or Greek? Or maybe a bit of Latin?" Percy asked.

"It's a big tower of oysters, clams, shrimp, mussels, crab, tuna tartare, ceviche and lobster on ice. Its accompanied by cocktail sauce, pesto mayonnaise, and a horseradish blend." Aphrodite replied, turning herself over so that her breasts were grinding into Percy's chest.

"Aphrodite, you keep doing this and I really will just take care of things myself." Percy said in a warning tone. Aphrodite looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Why are you so hard to get?" Aphrodite pouted.

"Because I'm not shallow like all the other boys in this world."

"Huh. I see you've become a true Hunter then." Aphrodite said. "Except for the falling in love part."

Percy blushed while Aphrodite gave an internal squeal of frustration. At the mere mention of Artemis, he blushed, while when he had a nearly naked love goddess on him, he got angry. He was a true mystery.

"Yes, I have become a Hunter, and Hunters shouldn't have someone like you on top. So can you get off?" Percy asked.

"In your dreams. Now come on, answer my question, what do you think of that dish?" Aphrodite purred.

"What was in that dish again?"

"Like I said before, it's a big tower of oysters, clams, shrimp, mussels, crab, tuna-

"WHAT?" Percy shot straight up, completely knocking Aphrodite off him. "SEAFOOD! Are you crazy?" Percy yelped.

"Ok, ok, bad idea. How about a Duck Confit?" Aphrodite asked, attempting to get back on top of Percy even though he just slipped away.

"And what is that?" Percy asked, exasperated.

"I don't know how to explain it. But it's really good. Trust me." Aphrodite said, snuggling up to Percy again, only to be pushed away.

"Alright, what else?" Percy asked wearily.

"There's the Indian Style Langoustina, there's another Duck Terrine With Marcona Almond, Major Bacon Wrapped Swordfish, Sea cucumber, Suckling Pig…"

 _Dear god, what have I gotten myself into?_ Percy thought despairingly.

Quite a while later, after many questions, a lot of dodging, several attempted kisses, and a few attempted undressings, Percy finally had a list that Aphrodite could tell the restaurant to prepare fresh.

"Ok, so let's see, for 17 people, heh, I'll let you decide on how many servings are needed, we have the Duck Confit thingy, Raviolini with Spinach and other flavoring, Pan seared Millbrook Venision loin, hope Artemis doesn't yell at me for that, Wild Mushroom Triangles that you said came from the menu 'Inspired by Europe', Indian Style Langoustina and finally, their standard desserts. I think that's quite a bit more than we can eat, don't you think?" Percy asked tiredly.

Aphrodite shrugged. "Even if you can't finish it, they'll just take the leftovers and eat it themselves. Also, you underestimate the Hunters appetite. Don't forget, your dinner is right after Dionysus's party, so they'll be a bit tired. So is this final? You want me to finalize it?"

"Yes please. And I have one last problem that I need your help with." Percy said wearily.

"And what is that?" Aphrodite asked sultrily.

Percy reached into his pocket and took out the small bag that contained the Golden Apples.

"I need you to find a way to colour them red, but not influence it's immortal properties." Percy said.

"Hmmm, I can cover them in lipstick if you want me to? Pure red lipstick, completely tasteless, guaranteed not to fall of _anything_ and completely waterproof and all that." Aphrodite suggested

"Bleargh, no. That's disgusting. Who wants to eat lipstick?" Percy said in a slightly disgusted tone.

"Well then, I really can't think of anything else. So it's either a thin layer of lipstick, or a golden apple." Aphrodite said. "Unless you want to practice eating lipstick now?" She said hopefully, puckering her lips.

" _Hell_ no. Fine, if it's lipstick, then so be it. I have to go, so tell me when you're done with the Apples please." Percy said, standing up and heading towards the door.

"I _can_ teleport you, you know. And don't you dare think that you're over with me, we still have _clothing_ to get through." Aphrodite said evilly.

"Oh right I forgot…" Percy said, his mind reeling as he remember that Aphrodite still had to prepare his clothing.

"Bye-bye Percy, and I can't wait to see you at the beach!" Aphrodite squealed before waving her hand and teleporting Percy right back… into the Aphrodite cabin. Percy groaned as he reappeared inside a pink-walled room.

"I swear…I swear that this will be the last time I ask Aphrodite for help." Percy groaned as he headed towards the door.

"PERCY! What are you doing in my room?" Piper screamed.

Percy whirled around and saw Piper and Jason staring at him wild-eyed. Then he realized that both of them were extremely sweaty and breathing heavily. Their faces were also bright red. Percy face palmed himself.

"Don't blame me. Blame your mother. And Jason, hope I didn't interrupt your streak eh?" Percy said evilly before opening the door and walking out. Ignoring the stares of the other children of Aphrodite, he walked out of her cabin and headed straight to Artemis's. He looked at his watch just in case. 11:58. Perfect.

"Good evening, Arty." He drawled as he saw Artemis standing in front of her cabin, anxiously scanning the sky.

She jumped slightly and he saw relief flash through her eyes before it was replaced by anger.

"Where the _Hades_ have you been Perseus? You left well before 9 o'clock, what could possibly take you more than three hours to do?" Artemis asked harshly.

"I told you my lady, I had some business to do. Very tiring too…" Percy muttered.

"And why can't you tell me?" Artemis asked.

"I just can't, ok Moon Beam? You'll find out soon though." Percy said wearily.

Artemis softened involuntarily at Percy's old nickname for her. She looked Percy over, jealousy gnawing at her as thoughts of Percy having found another lover rushed through her mind. She consoled herself with the fact that Percy wouldn't be unfaithful, but then a nasty thought hit her as she realized that while she had fallen for him, she never knew whether Percy loved her back. Which meant that Percy was not honour bound to be with her. All he had to do was just protect her, as stated in his oath. Artemis closely examined Percy and found that his eyes were sincere and she could easily tell that he was tired. She decided to trust him, even though she had never once trusted a man other than being idiots.

"Fine. Do your duty, and wake me up at the same time as today. But _don't go into my bedroom._ " Artemis said, emphasizing the last sentence.

Percy did his special bow. "Your will, my lady. Good night." Percy said. He flew up into a nearby tree and settled down quickly.

"Good night, my Guardian." Artemis whispered before retiring to her room.

Percy surveyed the beautiful night sky, hoping and praying to anyone that nothing would destroy their dinner. And he also hoped that the Amazons or Artemis would quickly find Lamia, since he wanted to just have a day where he could relax and forget about monsters. With that thought, he quickly fell asleep.

It took the Amazons almost a week to locate Lamia, with the help and aid of Artemis. They called Percy on the evening before Dionysus's party.

In those days, Percy had been reunited with Travis and Connor Stoll, Pollux, Katie Gardener, Clarisse LaRue, Chris Rodriguez, Nyssa, Jake Mason, most of the Hephaestus cabin, half of the Hermes cabin, a couple others from the Ares cabin, most of the older minor gods campers and the entire Demeter and Athena cabin. Except for Annabeth. Even after those days, Annabeth still looked depressed and shocked, and she rarely ever smiled anymore. Annabeth had tried to talk to Percy several times, but each time the moment she got near him, she faltered and ran off, crying. When Percy decided to talk to her, Athena had come personally to tell him not to.

His meetings with Aphrodite had gotten shorter, courtesy of a jealous Artemis, but at least most of the things were completely planned and done. Together, Aphrodite and Percy had come up with the plan to infiltrate the Daniel restaurant with one of Aphrodite's sons so he could put the Apples onto their table. The boy wasn't let in on the secret however, just told that the Apples were very important because they came from an immortal garden. The downside to working with Aphrodite was that he tired greatly, due to the fact that he had to keep dodging and avoiding her moves and mentally fighting her charmspeak-woven voice.

Hylla called when Percy was in the middle of battling Thalia, Phoebe and the trio, Elizabeth, Diana and Christy right before dinner. These five were the Hunt's best fighters but not even they could take Percy down. Instead, it was more like the opposite way around, with Percy dancing around and wearing them down with his super-fast and strong moves. Of course, since Percy wore his sisters down, Artemis wore Percy down. She also wore herself down in the process, but Artemis relished the together time that she had with Percy, since Percy seemed to preoccupied by his "stuff."

Percy had just swept Diana's feet from underneath her and thrown a blunt knife at Thalia in one move when Hylla's face appeared right before him. Surprised, he stumbled backwards and was instantly crushed by Phoebe.

"Sorry Percy, was I interrupting something?" Hylla asked cheerfully.

Percy groaned as he lifted Phoebe off himself. "You could say that again. But anyways, what news do you have?"

"We've found and confirmed Lamia's location. She's in Chicago, attending the fair that they mortals are hosting right now." Hylla said.

Percy nodded. "That makes sense. The fair attracts a lot of children and men, since the men bring their dates along with them. How long does this fair last?"

"Day after tomorrow. After that, she'll probably move on." Was Hylla's reply.

"Alright, then we only have one shot at this. Thank you so much for this Hylla. I owe you one." Percy said.

"Not a problem. See you later then Percy." Hylla said, waving her hand through the mist.

"Excellent. Let's go to dinner, I'll tell Artemis personally so the Immortal Campers won't pick it up. C'mon little sisters." Percy said cheerfully as the conch horn rang, signaling dinner.

The hunters cheered and followed Percy to the dining pavilion. They met Artemis at the table.

"What news Percy?" Artemis asked as they seated themselves.

"Wait please." Percy said as they waited several moments for Chiron to finish his usual speech. Then Artemis waited a little bit more as the dryads fought over who would serve Percy. After Percy came back from the sacrifices, she repeated her question.

"Chicago. Fair is leaving the day after tomorrow, so only a single shot." Percy said quickly and quietly.

"Good. Talk about plans later." Artemis said, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"What about the Chimera?" Percy asked.

"Unfortunately, same area. But I've noticed, from what Hermes report, is that every state I've sensed Lamia and the Chimera in, there is always this explosion near or at a children's place. Or places were _boys_ model for clothing." Artemis derisively.

"Ahhhh, and after the explosion…-"

"Children go missing. Boys too. And after those explosions, they're usually followed by UFO sightings. So I think that if we eliminate Lamia, then the Chimera will stop attacking. And Echidna." Artemis finished.

"Okay, but what does Echidna gain from helping Lamia?" Percy wondered.

"Well, as you know, Echidna likes to eat raw meat. Preferably human meat. Lamia likes to eat children, and occasionally men. However, she likes to toy around with men, and eats them slowly. Echidna just eats practically anything, and it's much harder and more suspicious to just pluck a person off the street, than it is if there were witness who saw a man go out with a female. And by the time they realize he's missing, too late. They'll most likely search for a beautiful woman, while just disappearing right off the street would lead a deeper investigation." Artemis explained.

After they finished their meal, the two walked together towards the lake as they talked about their plans.

"We're going to leave early tomorrow morning and we'll take my chariot. When we get there, we'll land on a top of a building about a mile away from the fair so that she won't notice it, and then we'll go in as casual as we can. We'll split up, but not far enough so we can come to each other's aid if need be." Artemis said. "So Percy, you're going to sleep early tonight, because fighting Lamia will take energy, especially since she'll probably be traveling with company."

Percy nodded. "That's no problem to me Arty. But this is the first mission I'm going on with the Hunt, you really think I'm ready for it?" Percy replied cheekily. He was happy now because business with Aphrodite was basically done, and he highly doubted that Artemis would notice if his pants were a millimeter too long.

"I don't know. You're a newbie, fresh and raw, but you should _just_ about ready to join us. We'll let you take out the weak monsters while I take out Lamia." Artemis said, laughing softly.

"Oh really? Could a newbie trick the Great Goddess Artemis into walking into a lake?" Percy asked, smirking.

"Huh?" Artemis looked down and saw her blurry reflection. " Wait, what do- AHHH!" Artemis barely had time to scream as Percy released his grip on the lake's water. Artemis plunged into the lake in a fountain of water as she desperately thrashed and kicked to get to the surface. Percy roared with laughter while Artemis poked her through the whole, water running from her nose, mouth and ears.

"PERCY! YOU-YOU, GAH!" Artemis gave a frustrated yell as she yanked at Percy ankles, bring him down straight into the lake. Before Percy could recover, she took a deep breath and tackled Percy, pinning him to the wall and began beating him up. And while Percy would've been wincing above water, he was laughing uncontrollably underwater. Artemis surfaced again to get some air and returned back down to beat him up again, but this time, Percy pinned Artemis to the wall while she lashed back at him with a bunch of punches. He let her go as he realized she needed more air, but yanked her down the instant she had taken a breath. Laughing hard again, he let Artemis have her way with him. As Artemis beat him up, Percy realized that he had never had so much fun with someone, or had so much pleasure being around someone. He truly, deeply loved her.

"Percy, come _on,_ you're completely dressed and yet you're _still_ sleeping?" Artemis called back into the cabin.

Percy slowly stumbled out of the cabin, stressed in his usual black leather jeans and a deep blue polo shirt. He looked completely unarmed, even though Artemis knew that Percy had the chains on his pants, several throwing knives hidden in his belt, a dagger sheathed in his waistband, and of course, his trusty old pen, Riptide in his pocket.

"It's not my fault, Moon Beam. You beat me up last night." Percy mumbled, running a hand through his rat's nest of a hair. Artemis winced when she saw it. Not because it looked bad, quite the contrary. He looked cute and adorable with the messy hair.

"Smooth your hair down, will you Perseus?" Artemis said.

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Because I want you to." Artemis answered.

Percy shrugged and summoned a layer of water to help smooth his hair down, but stopped when his hand almost reached his head. He looked at her and smirked.

"What are you supposed to say, _Arty."_ Percy crooned.

Artemis gritted her teeth. "I'll kill you for this. _Please_ smooth your damn hair down." Artemis growled. Gods _never_ pleaded.

Percy's smirk deepened. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it Arty?"

Artemis was about to reply when the hunters she had chosen to go along with them, Tracy, Christy, Elizabeth, Diana, Phoebe and Thalia, interrupted her.

"Look! Percy and Artemis are bickering like perfectly-matched husband and wife!" Christy squealed as the rest of the hunters barely held back their laughter.

Both Percy and Artemis instantly turned away from each other, each of their faces burning. Artemis turned to glare at Christy, who responded with an innocent smile. She realized that all of the hunters were watching her, or more specifically, her blushing red face, something that she had never done before. _Damn you Jackson, you make life so difficult._

"Let's get going alright?" Artemis called out in an attempt to quell the hunter's snickering as she sat down in her chariot, reins in her hand.

"Sure thing, my lady!" Tracy said cheerfully before hopping into her chariot. The other filed in, and Artemis started blushing again as she realized that they had all taken up the seats at the back, leaving only one seat for Percy. Which was right next to her. Artemis was shocked too. Her hunters hated boys with a passion, and yet they were trying to match her up with Percy? Did her hunters really love Percy that much to put him with her? _Well, I'm not falling for him. I swear that I am not._ Artemis thought stubbornly. She was shaken out of her thoughts as Percy sat down next to her, avoiding her gaze, still blushing from Christy's comment.

"Hold tight everyone." She said as she snapped her reins, signaling to her deer to lift off.

They flew in silence for a while before Percy decided to drop a "casual" question.

"My Lady, I was just wondering, why can't you make the Hunters completely immortal?" Percy asked. "I mean, look, my dad made Matthew immortal, and Apollo made Rachel immortal. Why can't you?"

"I was not granted the power. Lord Poseidon is Father's brother, so he has the power to turn anyone immortal. Same with Lord Hades. Apollo has the power because there were some hosts that Apollo liked a lot, and since Apollo is the god of Prophecy, Father granted him the ability. The reason why I can't is also more practical. If I could make everyone a full immortal, then people would just join my Hunt to become immortal, and then skip off again. Absolutely ridiculous." Artemis said.

"But what about the Hunters that prove themselves? They prove themselves that they're loyal to the Hunt?" Percy asked.

Artemis shrugged. "Like I said, I was not given the power. And unless you're Poseidon or Hades, turning a mortal into an immortal without Zeus's express permission is dangerous. Fates knows that I wish my Hunters could be full immortals, but I just can't." Artemis replied.

Percy nodded and then turned to Thalia and the others. "Do you girls ever wish that you could be complete immortals?"

Thalia laughed. "Of course! But I'd only want to become immortal if the entire Hunt becomes immortal. Then I'd know that I wouldn't be lonely. That's the whole point about the Hunt. It's a family. A family you, Seaweed Brain, have become part of." Thalia said. The others nodded their agreement.

Percy nodded and smiled. That, he felt, would justify his use of trickery into them eating the Apples. And with Artemis, well, he'd just take the punishment for tricking her into eating it. He continued thinking about the dinner plan, which was tonight and eventually just fell asleep again.

Artemis was about to ask Percy why he was interested when she found him asleep. He looked so cute with hair blown backwards and a slight smile on his face. She wrenched her eyes away, since she was pretty sure she could feel several pairs of eyes watching _her._ In a short amount of time, they had arrived at Chicago without mishaps, which was good. The hunters clambered out while Artemis bent of to wake Percy up.

"Perseus. We're there. Get up." Artemis said, shaking him awake. A lock of his hair had fallen to his eyes and without thinking, Artemis reached out and gently smoothed the hair back into place before snapping her hand backwards as Percy's eyes shot open. She also realized that her face was quite close to his and quickly straightened up. "About time you woke up Percy. Now come, we don't have too much time, it's a couple hours away from noon already."

Percy nodded and quickly followed the Artemis and the hunters. Artemis and the hunters slid down the building while Percy jumped, using his wings once to slow his descent. He slid them back into his back with a _schnk!,_ since he'd need to be inconspicuous for this mission.

"Alright, follow me. We're walking for about a mile, so take it easy." Artemis said.

"Um, my lady, why are you in your 13 year old form?" Percy asked as he followed her.

"This is the form I usually take. It's only because at camp I'm in my 18 year old form, since those boys become arrogant when I'm only 13." Artemis said derisively. Percy nodded and they continued walking.

"Ugh, I almost forgot that it was summer. Why is it so hot here, and not hot at all in California or New York?" Percy asked.

"I think it's because Demeter is in a good mood, something to do with Hades treating Persephone so nicely. So Demeter decided to be nicer, and kept the temperatures down for the two camps. Rest of the mortals, well, not so lucky." Artemis explained.

Percy nodded. They were pretty fortunate to have had a comfortable summer.

Unfortunately, they completely failed at being inconspicuous. Percy took the blame, since the instant he had stepped into the open streets, hordes of women came up to him, asking him for his number or address. A couple even bumped his shoulders or lightly touched him as they walked past, looking over their shoulders to gauge his reaction. And while he kept his reaction apathetic and his feelings nearing annoyance, Artemis was boiling with jealousy and anger.

Telling Percy and her Hunters to wait, she walked into a store, and a little while later, a beautiful 18 year old auburn haired young lady came out, wearing average teenager clothing. She walked right next to Percy, and found special pleasure as girls shot her jealous looks. Percy sniggered.

"I never knew you had the capacity to feel jealousy, Arty." Percy smirked. The hunters snickered as Artemis blushed furiously, struggling to find an excuse.

"That's not called being jealous Perseus, I can assure you I do not experience that feeling. It's just that it would look weird with an old guy and seven teenage girls." Artemis said with a straight face.

"The problem is that this looks even weirder because you two look like teenage parents." Tracy said loudly, drawing a string of laughter from her comrades. Artemis was so shocked that she was rendered speechless, while Percy took the chance to stay silent. However, he was anything but silent when a big, bulky, muscle-bound police officer walked right up to Artemis and slung an arm around her.

"Hey beauty, what do you say-"

 _CRACK!_

That was the sound as Percy, burning rage and jealousy boiling through his blood, snapped the officers arm off of Artemis with enough force to bend it in ways a human arm was never meant to be bent. Then Percy threw the officer high into the air before he extended his wings and shot into the air, bringing his fists and feet down in an aerial strike. The officer smashed into nearby parking lot, completely trashing three cars as the alarms went blaring. Then Percy, still incensed, raised his hand and summoned a ball of green fire.

" _No one can touch her."_ Percy snarled. He fired a powerful blast of green fire right at where the officer was.

 _BOOM!_

The entire parking lot's worth of cars blew, one after another in quick succession, shaking the earth as strongly as Poseidon himself could. Percy stalked forward, ready to reach into the fiery ruins and rip the officer apart when Artemis grabbed Percy's hand and yanked him back, teleporting them all to the fair before anyone could properly take a picture of them or see them. They reappeared right at the borders of the fair, and luckily for them , they were undetected because _everyone_ was staring at a massive, thick cloud of black smoke that was boiling into the sky.

"C'mon, let get into the fairground." Artemis urged, still holding onto Percy's hand as she dragged him and pushed the Hunters past the entrance. When they were well within the fairgrounds, they slowed down.

"Hey Percy, I knew you could be jealous, I knew that much, but I didn't know you could get _that_ jealous." Thalia said, smirking. The hunters sniggered again, while Artemis chuckled softly.

Percy sighed as he looked back at the cloud of black smoke in the air. He had no idea what had come over him, but all he knew was that no one, _no one,_ should treat her like that. And he just felt that he _had_ to protect her, even though of all gods or goddesses, Artemis was the one that needed protection the least. Her knife had already slid out, ready to stab the man's arm out and her hunters had already had their bows out. But Percy felt as if it was a _personal_ insult and he had to take care of it.

Percy growled. "That bastard… I still have half a mind to go after that place and rip him apart. And if I can't rip him apart, then I'm going to the Underworld and make sure he gets tossed into the Fields of Punishments." Percy snarled.

"Please Percy, that's very nice of you, but calm down, OK?" Artemis said softly.

Percy sighed, then cracked a smile. "Did I just hear you say 'please' Arty?" Percy cooed.

Artemis glared at him. "Come on. Let's get searching and use those senses of yours." She said, dragging him through crowds of people. Percy almost froze as he realized that Artemis was _still_ holding onto his hand, clenching it tightly. Percy felt impossibly light and cheerful seeing as Artemis hadn't tried to pull away and was now walking hand in hand with him as the Hunters scouted ahead.

"We'll never find Lamia this way. Too many people, it's interfering with my senses." Percy grumbled.

"Then we go up." Artemis said.

"Up?"

Artemis pointed towards the Ferris wheel. "We can see everything from up there, I'm sure."

"Thalia. You alright with going up?" Percy asked.

Thalia licked her lips. "I'll try to treat this like the last time I went skydiving. I'll get over it eventually. But don't be surprised if the entire cart starts to shake."

Percy nodded and turned to Tracy. "How about you? Do heights scare you Tracy?" Percy asked.

Tracy shook her head. Percy turned to the others, who replied with headshakes. "Good. Let's go then, shall we?" Percy asked, heading towards the Ferris wheel.

Artemis smiled as she felt a wave of warmth wash over her. She couldn't help but feel grateful that she had gotten such a kind and caring Guardian. The way he looked at Thalia, and asked everyone else, Percy really cared for the people he liked, even if he was as cold and cruel as a machine towards people he hated.

She also realized belatedly that she had been holding onto Percy's hand ever since she'd teleported them all. She felt her face begin to heat up again, to which she gave a slight groan of frustration. She blushed way _too_ much nowadays. However, she actually _liked_ the feel of his hand in hers, it was a perfect, comfortable fit and she found the feel of his callouses comforting. It proved that he constantly worked, not some type of shallow pretty boy like those Sons of Aphrodite. Unfortunately, since Percy needed to pay for their tickets, he had to let go of her hand, no matter how reluctant he was. After they had gotten the tickets and hopped into the seats, Artemis fully expected Percy to take her hand again, but instead, he didn't and she felt slightly hurt even though she knew it was probably better for her.

Percy had really been reluctant to let go of Artemis's hands when he had to pay, but he didn't dare reach for her hand again. Ah well, it was good while it lasted. Thanks to the hunters, Percy and Artemi sat together, even though they both tried hard to keep some distance between each other.

"Where did you get the money to pay for the tickets?" Artemis asked, curious.

"Aphrodite… she seems to prepare _everything_ for me." Percy groaned with genuine weariness.

Artemis laughed softly. "Now come Percy, use that super good vision and Athena-enhanced brain of yours to help locate Lamia."

Percy nodded and stretched his senses out. The largest and loudest was right next to him, blaring at him that Artemis was right beside him. As if he needed the reminder. He blocked Artemis and the Hunters aura and searched all over the fair. Over his first sweep, he found nothing. On his second, more detailed sweep, he caught a blip near the water slide. He concentrated solely on the water slide and found a group of monsters and, most importantly, a pretty powerful monster scent. Percy turned towards the direction and realized that it was on Artemis's side.

"Excuse me, my lady." Percy said, leaning over her, careful not to touch her. He concentrated his gaze and spotted a beautiful woman wearing a revealing blouse, leaning against a pillar. "I think I've found her. Near the water slides, so let's get off this damn wheel."

"Makes sense. She's a daughter of Poseidon, and with this hot weather, lots of children." Artemis muttered.

They quickly got off, and walked towards the water slides as quickly as possible. As they got close, Artemis motioned to them to take cover in a corner so that wouldn't catch her attention.

"That certainly is Lamia, so good job Percy. Not bad for a newbie." Artemis said, causing a small flurry of laughter.

"Now, the biggest challenge is how to kill her. I did not expect her to be in a fair, which complicates matters. We cannot simply go up there and shoot her, because she has guards and the mortals will think we're slaughtering. Had this been in a city, we could've easily hunted her from the rooftops…" Artemis trailed off, thinking.

"You know, I have an idea. She's a seducer, right? Well, sometimes, seducers can be easily seduced without them knowing." Percy said, watching Lamia. The Hunters however, were carefully watching Artemis. As expected, Artemis's eyes flared with anger.

"You are not going out there by yourself. I forbid you to do it." Artemis said, jealousy gnawing at her again.

"Arty, look, I can promise you I won't fall under her spell. And it's the only way, unless you want me to do something with the water, in which she'll definitely know that she's being hunted." Percy tried to reason with her.

Artemis bit her lip as she absorbed what Percy had said. It was true, there really was no other way unless she sniped Lamia off from here, but then the other monsters would wreck chaos. Besides, she shouldn't let her personal feelings get involved, it would only distract and slow her down. Reluctantly, she gave a stiff nod.

"Alright. I'll pull her away, you girls follow." Percy said before he walked straight to Lamia with a slight smile on his face.

He casually walked up to and past Lamia, and pretended to be absorbed in the children's screams of delights as they flew down the water slide. He was about to turn around and pop a casual question when he felt someone step up to him.

"Quite fun looking, isn't it?" A velvety voice said next to his ear. Percy instantly knew it was Lamia, since the voice was just perfect and comforting.

"Yes it is quite fun I believe. If only the lines weren't so long." Percy said, continuing to stare at the water slide.

"Would you care to join me going down the slide?" Lamia whispered next to her ear. Percy shuddered, not because of her intimacy, but because he could sense power in her voice.

"That's a very nice and kind offer, but really, the lines are so long and I don't think I can stand being in the sun anymore." Percy said as calmly as he could as he turned around and slowly walked off, purposely not looking at her.

He felt an arm gently grasp his shoulder. "Yes, the weather _is_ hot, isn't it?" Lamia said softly, resting her hip against his. Percy decided that it was about time to take a look at her and make some eye contact to show that he was remotely interested. It was a mistake to look into her eyes. While he slowly examined her the way modern teenage boys did, he was not affected by the ample cleavage, probably due to the fact that Aphrodite had tried to tear his clothes off while she was half naked. But when he stared into her eyes, green like his, except darker, more dangerous, he was instantly drawn in by the amount of power in it.

The power in her eyes alone was more than enough to draw any lesser man in instantly. But Percy was not a lesser man. He had been able to break Piper's charmspeak and resisted Aphrodite's charm, so he would break this one. However, Percy still found it incredibly hard to break. It was only after he called upon the image of Artemis's silver eyes that the spell's grip shattered. He almost staggered from the effort but managed to collect himself, giving Lamia a curt nod as he continued walking away from the fair.

"Indeed it is… in more ways than one." Percy said, giving Lamia a sly glance, taking the opportunity to see Lamia's reaction and to make himself look like he was interested. He noticed that while Lamia smiled, her dark green eyes was a mixture of shock and suspicion. Percy walked as quickly as he could, since he wanted to draw her away from everyone.

"You know, you said you'd like to stay out of the sun… I'm sure we could manage that, hmm? For a couple hours? At least?" Lamia said, walking slightly ahead of Percy so he could easily see the swing in her hips.

Percy grinned. "Perhaps. About how far is the place?" Percy said, giving her a sexy grin that he almost cringed at. They walked past the fair borders and Percy walked off into a secluded looking area.

"Well, if you don't want to walk, maybe we could do a quickie in the alley and do it long and hard at my hotel?" Lamia said throatily, giving Percy a seductive smile that looked as nasty as Kim Kardashian's smile.

"Lead the way." Percy said as enthusiastically as he could.

Lamia turned but not before Percy spotted her smirk. As Lamia took a long, winding route, Percy reached out with his senses and discovered that Artemis and the hunters were following them on the rooftops while a large group of monsters was tailing him. He'd have to take care of them, after she finished off Lamia. Percy was just beginning to think where she was leading him when she stopped. She stepped right up to him.

"I think this is pretty secluded, don't you think?" She said in a voice barely above a whisper. Her voice and eyes held extreme power though, and while it had an effect on Percy, all he had to do was think about Artemis and the spell was broken. He played along however.

"It sure is. A kiss?" Percy asked invitingly.

"Of course." Lamia whispered. Their heads leaned closer and closer. They were about an inch away from kissing when several things happened at once. Both Percy and Lamia's hand shot behind their back. Both drew their daggers in a icepick grip and both brought them down, intending to punch a large hole through each other's heads. Both shot their spare hands out to block the blow, Lamia by wrapping her hand over Percy's forearm and digging her nails into his skin while Percy blocked it by crushing her fingers to her dagger hilt. They struggled briefly before Percy kicked her in the gut, knocking her backwards. Lamia leapt right back to her feet.

"Very impressive. You're resilience to my charms are unsurpassed." Lamia said, her green eyes glinting. Percy didn't answer. "But you're no match for my weapons."

Lamia jumped forward, bringing her dagger in a downward arc, intending to rip Percy's skin right off. Percy deflected the blow before countering, spinning in a circle and trying to plant his dagger in Lamia's side. She dodged it and suddenly kicked. Percy dodged her foot, but completely missed the blade that shot out of her foot. It drew a shallow gash across his chest. While Percy stumbled, Lamia raised her left hand and clenched her fist, pointing it at Percy. There was a click, and four poisoned darts shot out, right at Percy's chest. He desperately threw himself sideways. The darts burned deep holes in the wall behind him.

"See? Hidden weapons, and I have _many._ So while I admire your bravery, you must know this is a doomed battle with only one outcome. Water cannot help you, since it helps me too, little brother." Lamia smirked.

Percy grinned. "Maybe. But I can use fire too." Percy summoned a tornado of flames as he uncapped Riptide. "Now let's see what the outcome is."

The two fought for only 10 minutes, but it was an intense fight. Lamia had many, many hidden weapons, with bladed fingernails, throwing knife hair clips, poisoned darts on her wrists, more poisoned darts kept in a cavity in her teeth, secondary blades and a seemingly unlimited amount of tiny little throwing knives. Percy meanwhile used the intense heat of his tornado to melt many of Lamia's small weapons, and either ducked or dodged most of the other ones. Percy also had the great advantage of endurance. Fear crossed Lamia's face as she realized that Percy seemed unstoppable.

"Guards!" She screamed. Almost instantly, a large group of monsters appeared, surrounding Percy. "Let's see how you get out of this, Jackson." Lamia said, taking a brief respite as Percy stopped his attack, slowly examining his extra enemies.

Percy smirked at her. "My Lady! Hunters!" Percy called out. A split second later, each monster had disintegrated into dust as arrows pierced the monsters throat. Percy gave her a look. "Well?"

Lamia looked around desperately and decided that escape was the best idea. "You'll never get me!" She yelled defiantly before pulling out a smoke bomb and tossing it at Percy. She ran off, hoping that the smoke would give her some time to run. Instead, she heard a bang and felt herself blown off her feet as thick black smoke enveloped her. She coughed and coughed at the surprise attack. _How the Hades?_ She thought as she waved at the black smoke.

"Really Lamia? Tossing a ball at me like that? It's natural instinct to catch it. Especially since it was a low powered toss." Percy said. He flipped her over and planted a foot on her chest before putting the tip of his sword at her throat. Lamia responded by extending her nail blades and slamming them deep into Percy's thigh. Percy screamed as the blades bit into his bone and swung Riptide, severing her right arm and crushing her left arm with his foot. Soon Artemis and the other hunters formed a circle around her.

"What-what do you want?" She asked weakly. The battle had truly drained her, while Percy hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Are you working with Echidna? With the Chimera? And why are you alive? Why now? Why didn't come back to life when the Giants were still alive and Gaea was still awake? Why?" Percy asked coldly.

"Echidna? Chimera? No, I haven't been working with them. They follow me because it is easier for them to capture their food after I've been there. As far as I know, they just roam the country now, since they do not want attention." Lamia replied.

"Alright. The other questions?" Percy asked relentlessly.

"Ah, the most important question. How much you gods do not know. Gaea-" Lamia stopped suddenly as thick ropes of earth suddenly sprang from the ground and tightened around Lamia's throat, choking her.

"No!" Percy yelled. He swung Riptide at the earth, but his sword just bounced off. Thalia sent a blast of lightning into the ground while Artemis attacked it with her own knives, but to no avail. Slowly, Lamia crumbled into dust and when the last of Lamia turned to dust, the earth-ropes just disappeared.

"Damn. That's not good. Does that mean Gaea is still awake?" Percy asked.

"No. Probably one of Gaea's last backup plans. Besides, it'll take a while for Gaea to completely fall back asleep. If she were awake, well, trust me, it'd be far worse." Artemis responded.

Percy nodded. "What about Echidna and her Chihuahua?" Percy asked.

"We do nothing. So long as they do not trouble us, since Echidna and the Chimera are very powerful. I do not want to take any unnecessary risks." Artemis said. "Now come, our mission is done here and we must get back in time for Dionysus's party." Artemis said as she pulled out her horn and blew a single note.

A moment later, Artemis's silver chariot landed, waiting for them to get on. Artemis, the Hunters clambered in while Percy limped and hopped in. After a few adjustments, Artemis shot into the air.

"Are you alright Percy? I saw you get hit by her foot blade, a couple small knives and those nasty nail blades of hers." Artemis asked, concern seeping into her voice.

"Those? Those were nothing more than a flesh wound, my lady." Percy said dismissively as he took a flask of nectar from his pocket and took a sip. Then he stuffed a ambrosia slice into his mouth and stretched his foot out.

"Percy, are you sure you're alright?" Artemis asked.

"Yes Arty, it's healing already, it's the same thigh that got bitten by the damn basilisk." Percy replied.

Artemis raised an eyebrow and reached over and put her hand on it. Percy flinched.

"Just what I thought." Artemis muttered. She sent a pulse of silvery light, and Percy instantly felt revitalized and his thigh no longer hurt.

"Wow. Um, thank you my lady. I can say for sure that I'm alright now." Percy said.

"Alright then, that's good." Artemis said. "Because…" She leaned over and slapped his face.

"Arty! What was that for?"

"Did you really have to play along with Lamia so much? When you were out of the fairgrounds, you could've killed her already! Don't tell me that you fell for her charms either!" Artemis snapped, feeling angry for no reason.

"Of course I didn't! If I did, well, you know what would've happened. Instead of trying to kill her, she would've killed me first!" Percy said indignantly.

"Well, she very nearly did kill you!" Artemis grumbled. "Now just be quiet!"

Percy obediently stayed quiet but he turned around and shot Thalia and the others a _'What did I do wrong?'_ look. They rolled their eyes in exasperation. Sometimes, Percy could be really dense.

Artemis had been worried for him. Jealous of him too, though she would forever deny that she would get jealous of someone touching Percy. But just the sight of Lamia leaning her hips against his or holding his arms had sent her anger soaring. And when Percy and Lamia had almost "kissed", she had gripped her bow so hard that if it wasn't unbreakable, it would've shattered. She continued to fume as they reached camp and occasionally shot Percy a few glares, to which he returned with genuine innocent looks. After glaring at him a bit more, she ultimately decided to let the subject drop, since Percy _had_ been obeying orders, as he always did, and obviously hadn't fallen for Lamia's charms. He'd just been playing along.

"C'mon girls, we have little time before Dionysus beach part starts." Artemis said as they landed.

"Wait, what do you mean? Can't we just go like this?" Percy asked.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "It's the 21st century, old man. Get on with it." Thalia said, clapping Percy on the shoulder.

Percy looked at her and raised an eyebrow. A look of understanding crossed his face and eyes. He nodded.

"I'll go tell Chiron that the mission is over then. And stuff our success into the Immortal Campers faces." Percy said, grinning as he did so.

"You got do that. Stay outside of our cabin when you're done!" Artemis called out to him. Percy nodded and walked off. "Let's go girls."

Artemis walked into her own room inside her cabin, wondering what to wear when she felt another presence. A presence she recognized and hated.

"Aphrodite. Get out of hiding and tell me what you're doing in _my_ cabin." Artemis snarled.

Aphrodite appeared and turned to her excitedly. "So, what are you going to wear?"

"Something modest. A one piece or something." Artemis said as she shuffled through her clothing.

"No way! You can't wear something that nasty! You're not going to a swimming competition, so wear this!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

Artemis turned around and literally froze at the silver two-piece bikini that Aphrodite was holding out.

"Excuse me! Are you crazy? I'm not wearing something like that!" Artemis yelled.

"Hey, this is pretty modest compared to mine. Either that, or I'll force you into something smaller." Aphrodite said.

"I'll wear that if it was an all-girls party. Not with boys there." Artemis growled. In reality, she was actually afraid of going out in that in front of Percy, even though a small part of her wanted to.

"That's exactly why I'm there! I can draw the attention to myself, and you can draw Per- um, perfectly nothing." Aphrodite said, hastily covering up her slip.

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "And what's not to stop me from going out in my own choice?"

"Weeellll, I could certainly make all the waitresses swoon and hang over Percy during your dinner tonight." Aphrodite said, smirking.

Anger instantly boiled through Artemis's blood. "Don't. You. _Dare._ " Artemis snarled, walking up to Aphrodite and glaring into her multi-coloured eyes.

"Then just wear it, and I swear nothing will be wrong." Aphrodite said with finality. She winked and faded away into a mist, leaving Artemis staring at the two-piece bikini. _There is no way I'm wearing that. There must be a way out of this._ Artemis thought desperately.

And yet here she was, standing with her fellow Olympians who were also in swimsuit attire, except she was wearing a large shirt. They had all teleported to the beach Dionysus had decided on and were waiting for Zeus to finish his speech. The beach was quite odd, since it seemed to be on a hill. There was a slope that you could slide down to get into the water, and a hill with a flat top, all covered in sand, which they were standing on right now. While waiting for her father to finish his speech, she surveyed her Hunters and was unsurprised to find they were all in various types of swimsuit attire but were all snickering at her. Percy seemed completely relaxed, which was easy for him since he hadn't changed his clothes at all.

"So, to all the demigods that have decided to join this party, let us have fun and celebrate Dionysus's party!" Zeus thundered out.

All the demigods cheered and went rushing towards the beach and sea, which was pretty wild seeing as Poseidon had let his control go.

"You know Lord Zeus, instead of thinking this as Dionysus's own party, why don't you think of this as a Olympian Family Reunion?" Percy asked, walking up to Zeus. He avoided looking at Artemis, since the fact that she was in swimsuit attire made him maddenly embarrassed.

"An Olympian Family Reunion?" Zeus asked.

"Well, yes, where all us immortals just get together and have fun. When was the last time you had fun anyways, Lord Zeus?" Percy asked.

"That's an excellent idea. I think we should all just have fun and forget about everything, Father." Hermes said.

"Yes, I agree too! Percy, would you like to share a blanket with me? I'm sure we'd be cozy." Aphrodite said, walking up to Percy and slinging an arm around him. Percy turned to Aphrodite, who was wearing a small bikini that made her voluptuous curves easily visible and basically not covering her ass up at all.

"No thanks. I prefer the sea, and besides, aren't you supposed to be with Ares? And speaking of Ares, where is he?" Percy asked as he surveyed the group of Olympians.

Artemis looked too and realized with a shock that Ares wasn't attending. Apollo didn't seem surprised though and Aphrodite was smiling.

"Ares can't come because he suffered some very bad injuries. Really severe." Aphrodite said.

Percy frowned. "From who?"

"Who? Um, he was fighting with Athena." Aphrodite said, hoping that Percy-and especially Artemis- would buy the lie. Athena helped her along by nodding.

"Ok. Then please let me talk to my friends first, I'll come back in a couple moments." Percy said, dashing off.

"What are we supposed to do now then? For this Olympian Reunion Party?" Zeus asked.

Dionysus of course, had the answer. "Bring on the wine! The food! The tables! The music! Everything!" He yelled. He was extremely jubilant and happy, even smiling at the campers. Soon, small tables with snacks on them were out, a miniature bar was summoned by Dionysus, and grills were out with Hephaestus designs on them and Poseidon was testing out a couple new surfboards. While the demigods were completely invited to join them, they were all afraid and the only ones that joined the Olympians were, of course, the Hunters and the Immortal Campers. Percy was talking animatedly with Jason and Frank when they crested the hill to where the Olympians were. They all froze.

There was big grill, which Hephaestus had finished tinkering and was making hamburgers, Dionysus was skipping around with a bottle of wine, Demeter was munching on grapes, Hermes was having fun surfing against Apollo, but what shocked them the most was the Big Three. Zeus and Artemis were playing volleyball, albeit high speed volleyball against Poseidon and Hades, with Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, Persephone, and Hestia watching at the side. Hades was actually smiling for once as he smacked the ball back towards Zeus and Zeus shot it towards Poseidon, who threw it at Artemis. Artemis gave a wicked grin and smashed the ball back towards Poseidon so fast that it completely blitzed him. Poseidon's mouth dropped in shock while Zeus and Hades roared with laughter.

It was only then did Percy realize that Artemis was in a bikini.

While the other campers moved off, Percy couldn't help but stare. He knew it was rude but he couldn't help it. The bikini seemed to accentuate each of Artemis's assets. Her curves were absolutely perfect sized, not over large like Aphrodite's but just perfect, her bottom piece clearly showed just how long and athletic her legs were and her stomach was taut and smooth. With the sunlight glistening off her silky smooth skin, she literally shone. She looked perfect, like a goddess. Percy would've continued to staring but a smirking Thalia interrupted him.

"Hey! Earth to Percy! Hello! You there! Respond!" Thalia yelled at his ear.

"Huh…wa…wha…uh?" was Percy's intelligent reply.

"Seaweed Brain, were you just getting googly-eyed over our commander?" Thalia said, smirking.

"Wh-wh-what? N-n-n-no, I-uh, I was, um, I was just-just shocked that Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are actually having fun." Percy stuttered, blushing furiously as he wrenched his gaze away from Artemis, who had just performed an incredibly sexy flip that shot the ball past Hades.

"Really? Come on, I just saw you staring at Artemis only, you didn't even see Hades throw the ball that Dad missed to hit back." Thalia said, her electric blue eyes sharpening as she gazed into Percy's eyes.

"Look, she's awesome, amazing, smart, beautiful, nice, extremely skilled…" Thalia interrupted him by clearing her throat.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready for a relationship, and neither will Artemis…" Percy finished with a sad tone.

Thalia snorted. "You never know. Now get going, they're starting to wonder where you've gone off to. And remember, the Hunters are behind you on this." Thalia said, before giving Percy a hug and dashing off.

Percy stared after Thalia's retreating form. The Hunters were behind him on this? Did that mean they supported him? Percy shook the thought out of his head and walked over to where his dad was getting pummeled by Artemis.

"Hey dad, you don't seem to be having much fun. Need some assistance?" Percy asked cheekily.

"Yeah, I do. What's the current score right now Athena?" Poseidon gasped.

"Fifteen to three!" Athena called back.

Percy's eyebrow shot up. "That's pretty bad. I never knew you were that good at volleyball, my lady." Percy said, deciding not to use 'Arty' in front of the gods, especially Apollo.

Artemis shrugged. "It's all about reflexes and speed. If you can surprise your opponent, then you win. Besides, I knew that men had slow reflexes. Even you Perseus."

Percy raised an eyebrow and stared into Artemis's silver eyes, smiling slightly as Artemis blushed. "Is that a challenge?" Percy asked quietly.

Artemis met his eyes square on, even though she felt her face heat up.

"Yes."

"Alright then. Athena, kindly reset the scoreboard." He said, turning to Athena. She nodded while Zeus, Hades and Poseidon backed off. To Percy's surprise, Poseidon stood next to Athena, who gave him a smile. Percy frowned slightly but couldn't dwell on the matter as Apollo tossed him the volleyball. Percy nodded his thanks but couldn't serve as Aphrodite interrupted him.

"Percy! You can't serve in clothing like that! It's not beach attire!" Aphrodite called out.

"Ahhh. So that's how Artemis got into that swimsuit?" Percy asked, arching an eyebrow towards Artemis. She blushed but nodded. "I like it. You look great." He said nonchalantly.

"So Aphrodite, what will it be?" Percy asked.

"You're agreeing with me? Are you really agreeing with me?" Aphrodite squealed. Percy nodded resignedly. "Ok, here! How about this!"

Aphrodite snapped her fingers and a brilliant pair of green swimming trunks appeared on Percy, replacing his pants. Percy looked down and nodded his approval. He raised the volleyball, ready to serve again when Aphrodite interrupted him again.

"No Perseus, your shirt. Take it off." Aphrodite said, her eyes shining.

Percy looked at her exasperatedly before putting the ball down and reaching for the hem of his shirt.

"You know what Aphrodite? You have pedophilia." Percy said as he took off his shirt.

"No, I have Percy Jackson mani-" Aphrodite stopped and stared and started drooling as Percy pulled his shirt off completely. Artemis couldn't help but stare either. With his shirt off, Percy's powerful build was displayed in all its glory. His eight pack muscles were perfectly proportionate; perfect sized and, as Artemis knew from personal experience, packed a powerful punch. His wide shoulders and his biceps shone and flexed as he bent to pick up the volleyball.

Artemis barely, just barely managed to stop herself from staring googly-eyed at Percy. It was an effort, since now Artemis really wanted to know how Percy felt. Meanwhile, Aphrodite was still staring, drool running down her chin. Percy winked at Artemis, which caused her to blush furiously and then he raised an eyebrow at Aphrodite.

"Can I serve now?" Percy asked. Aphrodite continued drinking in the sight of a shirtless Percy. Shaking his head, Percy tossed the ball into the air before bashing it down so fast and in such a perfect line that Artemis didn't even move until the ball hit the sand. Artemis stared in shock.

"Looks like I'm not the only one with "slow reflexes"" Percy taunted.

"1-0, currently in Percy's favor!" Athena called out.

Artemis growled as she tossed the ball back to Percy. He grinned and served it over in a slow, lazy motion, which Artemis took the chance to hit back fast and hard. Percy easily hit the ball back with a dig. It went back and forth for a little while before Artemis bumped the ball into the air and did an air strike. The ball flew through the air at blurring speeds and smashed into Percy, bowling him backwards. Percy groaned as he stumbled to his feet and tossed the ball back to Artemis. Artemis smirked. This was going to be fun.

They did each other in, using increasingly unorthodox moves to score a point. Artemis seemed to prefer gymnastic moves, such as flipping through the air to hit the ball back at Percy, while Percy swiped at the ball as if it were a projectile shot from a bow, which made sense since he was a battle-hardened warrior. Their speed also increased. The volleyball moved back and forth so fast that it looked like a game of table tennis. The two adversaries practically attacked each other with the ball, although Percy was more careful. Artemis just hit the ball back at super high speeds, and while Percy had the advantage of being tall, Artemis had the advantage of being light and fast. And in this case, light and fast won over big, fast and heavy. Artemis also had the advantage of changing into many animals to get her across, which pissed Percy off. Or she could teleport, such as the time when she scored the 25th point against him.

Percy had hit the ball back at astounding speed with an aerial punch and the only way she could've gotten was teleporting. She vanished and reappeared, smacking the ball back and catching Percy completely by surprise as it bounced off his head.

"Artemis! That's cheating! Changing into animals is bad enough, but no teleporting." Percy groaned as he get up and rubbed his head.

Artemis smiled as she leaned against the net. "You never said no teleporting. It's just because you're too dense not to use your own powers." She smirked and turned to Athena, who was trying hard not to laugh. "What's the score?"

"24-25. You just need to score one more point and you'll win."

"Good. Now Percy, hand that ball over to me." Artemis said as she reached for the ball that Percy tucked under his arm.

"Nope. You teleport, that means I at least get to serve." Percy said.

"Percy, either hand the ball over to me or I'll make you." Artemis said.

"Yeah? How?" Percy asked challengingly.

Artemis answered by dropping down and swinging her foot at Percy's legs. She swept his legs out and he crashed to the ground, the ball flying out of his grip. She walked over and picked it up, only to fall face first into the sand as Percy grabbed her foot and yanked.

"Perseus!" Artemis screamed as Percy yanked the ball out of her grasp. Percy smirked and raised the ball to score a point but Artemis leapt up from the ground and tackled him, sending them both tumbling down the hill. Artemis punched him in the chest in an attempt to push him off, but she might as well have been punching a mountain. They rolled down the hill, their bodies intertwining around each other as they fought for the ball. After a couple of exchanges, they landed at the bottom with a thump, with Artemis lying on top of Percy. Percy instantly became uncomfortable as he felt Artemis's breasts squashed against his chest and her legs twined around his.

For an instant, they just stared at each other before Artemis quickly rolled off him, blushing and snatched the ball away. While Percy was still embarrassed, he definitely wouldn't let Artemis take the ball away. He tackled her, landing on top of her as Artemis curled into a tight ball to stop Percy from taking the volleyball. Percy thought for just an instant before he reached down and tickled her sides. Artemis gave a laughing scream as she giggled.

"Percyyy… d-don't, I'm ticklish!" Artemis squealed as Percy began attacking her sides. She did her best to hold onto the ball, but Percy's tickling, combined with the fuzzy feeling she was getting as Percy's hands ran over her sides, caused her to let it go. Percy saw the ball go but he really didn't want to stop tickling Artemis. It was just such a pleasure to see her face light up with that smile of hers, the sparkle in her silver eyes and the crystal clear laugh of hers. He loved _her._ Her entire self.

As much as he regretted it, he stopped. He stared at Artemis for just a little longer before bending over and picking the ball up. He bent down so his voice was right next to her ear.

"I win." Percy whispered, his voice sending shivers down Artemis's back. Percy slowly and calmly walked up the hill to the surprise of the Olympians, who had fully expected Artemis to be triumphant. He walked over to his side and was about to "serve" the ball when Artemis appeared out of nowhere and dropped down on top of him.

"Agh! Arty! Not fair!" Percy yelped as Artemis bound his hands and feet with silver cords. She smiled and patted his cheek as she took the ball from him. She walked over to her side and "served" it over, and since Percy was bound, she scored a point.

"Well, it looks like Artemis wins!" Athena called out before bursting into laughter. The Olympians laughed and to their surprise, the Hunters and the Immortal Campers joined in. They had been secretly watching the match, with the Hunters betting on Artemis and the Campers betting on Percy. Percy slowly got up as the Olympians and everyone else went back to their business.

"Arty, that wasn't fair." Percy said as he walked up to her.

Artemis smiled. "When was life ever fair Percy?"

"True. So, you ready for tonight's dinner?" Percy asked.

Artemis nodded. "Of course. It's just a dinner with the Hunters. A big family dinner. Now come on, let's get something to drink." Artemis said, taking hold of Percy's arm and dragging him to the miniature bar.

They walked in and found it in a typical bar setting. The bartender was a dryad. She smiled and bowed at Artemis, and stood shell-shocked as she saw Percy.

"An-any-anything I could get you two, Lord and Lady?" She stuttered out.

Artemis gave Percy a sly look. A devious plan sprung into her mind. "Two Vesper Martini's please. Oh, and not mortal strength, I think Dionysus strength should do quite well."

The dryad's eyes bugged out before she nodded. They took their seats as Percy nibbled on a cracker.

"What the hell is a Vesper Martini?" Percy asked.

"It's a drink that one you mortals invented. Ian Fleming. Son of Athena. Very smart boy, but with a weird mind. Apollo loves the drink, and I thought you'd like to try it out." Artemis said, just able to conceal her smirk. She couldn't wait for his reaction.

Percy nodded and tried to find something worth looking at, instead of Artemis's bikini-clad body. He was about to ask her a question when the door to the bar opened and all the Olympians walked in. They instantly walked over to where they were sitting and seated themselves, while Demeter snapped her fingers, causing the table to stretch until it could seat 20 people.

Poseidon sat down next to Percy right, and Aphrodite instantly took the seat to his left. She put her hand on his biceps and began rubbing it, only to have her hand pushed off by Percy.

"So how's it going, my boy? Having fun?" Poseidon asked as he clapped Percy on the back.

"Yeah, it's been pretty good Dad. How's it going under the sea? Has everyone accepted Triton's death?" Percy asked.

Poseidon nodded. "It took them a while, but yes, they have accepted it. They await you, since I've crowned you as the Prince of the Seas."

Percy blushed. "Thanks Dad, but really, I don't need the title. I'm fine just like how I am."

Poseidon smiled. "That's my boy. Humble and modest."

The dryad walked over and handed Artemis and Percy their drinks. Then she turned to the other Olympians.

"What would you Lord and Ladies like?" She asked respectfully.

"Red wine for all of us. My special brew." Dionysus said. The dryad bowed and walked off. "Perseus, are you want to drink that? Especially since it's your first time?"

"Well, Artemis ordered it, so it can't be that bad, can it? What's in here?" Percy asked.

"Three measures of Gordon's Gin, one of Vodka, and half a measure of Kina Lillet. Then it's added with my power in it." Dionysus replied.

"Ok… what's wrong with that?" Percy asked, completely ignorant when it came to wine.

Dionysus groaned. "Forget it. Just…forget it. On your head, so be it, drink it. I dare you."

"Trust me Percy, it's alright. If I can drink it, then you can too." Artemis said, her eyes glinting as she swallowed the whole cup in one gulp without flinching. "Do it like I do."

And since Percy trusted Artemis so much, he did not take into account the small smiles that all the gods had on their faces as they watched the young half-immortal down the whole cup just like Artemis.

For a split-second, nothing happened, then Percy choked and coughed, gasping. "You call that 'alright'?" Percy asked incredulously as tears streamed down his face and his throat burned.

"Ahhh, the youngsters of today, truly do not know how to drink." Dionysus commented as he took the bottle of red wine offered to him by the dryad. The other gods nodded as they accepted their cups.

"Well, it was my first time. What do you expect?" Percy asked in a hoarse voice. His stomach bubbled.

"I'm sorry Percy. I promise I won't do something like that anymore." Artemis said, apologizing.

"Apology accepted." Percy rasped.

"So Perseus, tell me of your time with Artemis and the Hunters. All the stuff that has happened, to your successful killing of Lamia. Congratulations to that, I should add." Zeus said.

"Thank you Lord Zeus."

So Percy recounted everything he could remember, from the first moment he had met the hunters, what happened, what he had to do, his extra chores, his acceptance into the hunt, the battles, and the hunters pranks while Artemis blushed with a mixture of shame and embarrassment. She couldn't believe what she'd done to Percy during his first couple months. He story took several hours to tell, partly because the story was so long, but mainly because Aphrodite kept on trying to snuggle up to Percy. When Percy finally finished with the death of Lamia, Aphrodite had somehow managed to sit on Percy's lap and was arching herself against him.

"Aphrodite! You've had a relationship with practically _every_ man in this room, including Hermes! Just leave one man alone, will you!" Athena growled as Percy pushed her off again.

"Yeah, why are all the females looking at him anyways? I'm the hottest." Apollo sniffed.

"You may be hot, but Percy's my favourite! He's got the best body, the most amazing hair, the deepest and dreamiest eyes you could ever want, amazing skills, perfectly sized muscles and don't even get me started on the length and thickness of his-" Percy cut her off by giving her a quick kiss on the cheek that made Artemis see red.

Aphrodite gasped as she held her hand to where Percy had kissed her. Then she grabbed Percy by the front of his shirt and the back of his and began making out with him furiously. Percy gave a strangled scream as Hestia teleported over to Aphrodite and yanked her off. Artemis herself would've wanted to go and beat Aphrodite up, but she forced herself to stay where she was.

Percy gasped as he called to the dryad. "Get me another Vesper Martini please! I have to wash Aphrodite's spit out of my mouth!"

The dryad hurriedly began making one while Aphrodite gave a muffled scream.

"Hestia! Let me go! I was just getting to the best part! Come on Percy, you know you want to!" Aphrodite pleaded as she fought Hestia's iron grasp.

Percy grabbed the Vesper proffered by the dryad and drained the whole thing in one go, ignoring the deep burn he felt in his throat.

"Sorry Aphrodite, but I don't like heartbreakers and faithless woman." Percy rasped out.

"Peercy, I love you, you know it! And I'd stay faithful to you! I swear!" Aphrodite yelped.

Everyone fell silent as they all absorbed what Aphrodite had just said. That was serious, since Aphrodite _never_ committed herself to anyone. The silence and stillness was enough for Aphrodite to knock Hestia aside and leap onto Percy's lap, straddling him.

"Well Aphrodite, I'm honoured that I mean that much to you, but I really must decline." Percy said, his voice still hoarse from the Vesper. "Now please get off me."

Aphrodite looked at him with big puppy eyes as she began sniffling. "Well, I can't say that my hopes were high…" She mumbled. Artemis couldn't help but feel relieved. Percy had turned down the Love Goddess. But what she didn't know was who Percy had turned it down _for._

Percy looked at his watch and realized with a shock that it was almost eight. "Well Lord Zeus, it's been very fun, but I'm getting a bit tipsy from those two Vespers. So do I have your permission to return to Camp?" Percy asked.

Zeus nodded. "Permission granted. So long as Artemis goes with you."

Artemis nodded. She had seen Percy's look when he saw his watch and understood. Aphrodite saw too, and quickly walked out of the door, sniffling loudly but whispered to Percy very quickly, "My cabin."

"I'm sorry to see you go, my boy. Maybe some other day when you have time, we can surf against each other?" Poseidon asked.

"You got it Dad" Percy said. He turned to Hestia. "Thanks for your help with Aphrodite, my patron."

"No problem. See you later, champion." Hestia said, giving Percy a warm hug.

Percy nodded and walked out. The instant he and Artemis were out, they immediately went in search of the Hunters. They found them making life sized sand figures of the campers and shooting arrows into their heads.

"C'mon sisters, dinner! Let's go!" Percy called. They nodded and grouped together. Artemis snapped her fingers and teleported them all back to camp. Once at camp, Artemis and the hunters went to their cabin and Percy walked to Aphrodite's cabin. The instant he got in, he saw Aphrodite.

"So, what am I wearing tonight?" Percy asked, praying that it wasn't something pink.

"Here, into that room, put it on and I'll look." Aphrodite said.

Percy walked into the room and saw an exquisite looking suit and a bottle of gel. He quickly put it on and walked out of the room.

"So how do I look?" Percy asked Aphrodite.

Aphrodite was stunned. She knew he'd look good, but this was off the charts. He was wearing a shirt of deep sea green with a tuxedo jacket so black that Nyx herself would envy it. Buttons sparkled on his shirt and forearm. His black pants had silver stripes running down the sides. His normally messy hair was slicked back, and he was wearing sunglasses that had deep sea green and black mixed together. The two colours clashed magnificently and added on to Percy's flaming eyes, it had a heart stopping effect.

"You look good. Really good." Aphrodite said out loud. _Damn you Artemis, for getting his attention. If he has another life, I'm claiming him as mine forever._ Aphrodite thought quietly.

Percy smiled, which stunned Aphrodite again. "Thanks a lot Aphrodite. I suppose I owe you one now. I'll see you later."

Aphrodite nodded dumbly as Percy walked out the door. She sniffled again. For the first time in her immortal life, she'd truly fallen in love with a man, not a lust for the man, but true love. And since she loved Percy, she would help him further his relationship with Artemis.

Percy arrived at Artemis's cabin just as Artemis walked out. Both of them froze as they stared each other. Artemis was wearing a dress of sparkling green that had a relatively low circular neckline, her earrings shone and flashed, even in the relative darkness, and her lips glittered pink from the slight lip gloss that Artemis had put on. Her hair had been combed and fell to her shoulders in dark auburn curls, framing her breathtaking beautiful face while her silver eyes glowed. They continued staring at each other for a long time, and they probably would've stared longer had it not been for the fact the Hunters couldn't hide their snickers anymore. They both jumped and blushed while Percy walked up next to Artemis.

"Shall we?" He said, holding out his arm.

"Of course." Artemis, hooking her arms through his. The hunters followed in formation from behind,unable to stop their giggles. They walked past the borders and down the hill, to where a black limousine was waiting for them. The driver bowed as he held the door open and Percy stepped in, helping Artemis in. The hunters hopped in seconds later, bouncing on the soft seats. The driver sat in and looked in the review mirror.

"The Daniel, 65th Street, Upper East Side, Sir?" He asked.

"Yes please." Percy replied.

The car started with a quiet hum, and in seconds they were off. Artemis turned to Percy.

"You ordered a limousine? Why?" She asked.

"It's a dinner, my lady. And I invited you, so what do you expect?" Percy replied. "Now just enjoy the ride. You seem tired."

"I am not tired! Do you think that small match made me tired?" Artemis shot back, but Percy was right, she _was_ tired. Mostly from his tickling, which had sent shivers running through her entire body.

"Whatever you say, _Arty._ " Percy whispered. For the whole ride, they sat mostly in silence, except for Phoebe, who had raided the fridge, and Tracy, who constantly bounced around and jumped up and down on everyone's lap.

"We've arrived at Daniel, Sir. I'll wait for you right here, no matter how long it takes." The attendant said as he held the door open for him.

"Thank you very much." Percy said. The entered Daniel and was instantly enveloped in a quiet environment and extremely thick carpeting. The receptionist at the front flashed them a brilliant smile.

"Your reservation, Sir and Ma'am?" She asked, eyeing Percy.

Percy reached into his pocket and took out his ID and slowly folded his sunglasses "Jackson."

The receptionist took it and nodded, blushing and giving him a shy smile as she handed it back to him. "Allow me to show you to your VIP area." She said as she walked out from behind the desk, purposely walking right in front of him as she swung her hips from side to side.

 _VIP? Only he would order the VIP table…_ Artemis thought.

In the VIP room, it was even quieter and the windows were perfectly clear, giving them a wonderful view of the New York skyline at night. They quickly seated themselves and Percy handed the receptionist a slip.

"Ah, already have the menu items decided on? I'll get it to the chef immediately." The receptionist said before walking off.

"Really Percy? The VIP?" Artemis asked as they put the napkins under their chin.

"Well, they didn't have MIP for you, so VIP was second best." Percy said.

"MIP? I don't think I've heard of that." Artemis said.

"Most Important Person." Percy replied with a straight face.

Artemis blushed. "So what are we eating tonight then, Percy?"

"First, the drinks." Percy said, indicating to a waiter who had come with the drinks menu.

"What would you all like to drink?" The waiter asked politely.

"Well, if you have several bottles of Remy Martin Napoleon Cognac, that'd be great." Thalia said.

The waiter's eyes bugged at her request. "She's older than she looks. All of them. As for me, well, I'll go light. Margarita on the rocks." Percy said

"I'll take a Vespa Martini." Artemis said, smirking at Percy.

The waiter quickly jotted everything down. "Your drinks and food should come soon, Sirs and Ma'ams."

The drinks came and the bread, as was their custom. Then the courses came down, one after another, which, to Percy's surprise, disappeared quickly. Apparently he _had_ underestimated his sisters appetite. Artemis was impressed by them all, but was particularly impressed by the Duck Confit and the pan seared Millbrook Venison loin. She had eaten those two with the most enthusiasm.

"Whoo hoo. That was surprisingly good, Perseus. So what's next?" Artemis asked, indicating all the near empty plates on the table.

"Surprisingly good? You wound me with your harsh words, Arty. Dessert is next. Special request, since I _love_ these apples." Percy said. He kept his face smiling while underneath his stomach was churning with anxiety.

A cart was soon rolled to their table. On it was 17 plates with the most perfectly red apples on them. The waiter quickly put them in front of each hunter and winked at Percy as he put an apple in front of him. Percy nodded his thanks. The apple in front of his was merely a Honeycrisp apple from Demeter's garden with red lipstick to make it look like the others.

"Impressively red apples. Wherever did mortals have apples like these?" Artemis said as she picked the apple up and examined it.

"It's not mortal. It belongs to an immortals garden." Percy said.

"Ahh, Demeter? Well, you must've been really nice to get the apples from her." Artemis said.

Percy gave an internal sigh of relief. "Yes, I was. So let's eat the apples first then, shall we?" Percy asked.

Artemis and the hunters nodded. Percy raised it to his mouth and bit into it as the same time as the others. He heard a loud, crispy crunch as 16 pairs of teeth bit into 16 Golden Apples. His crunch was lost, since a honey crisp was no match.

"Wow. This is so good!" Thalia exclaimed, juice running down her fingers.

"Yeah, this has got to be _the_ best thing I've ever eaten." Tracy said happily, devouring the apple.

"It certainly is exquisite. The best thing I've tasted in my life so far, and that's saying a lot." Artemis said. The other hunters nodded their agreement as they happily munched on the apples.

Percy felt guilty for tricking them, but the feeling disappeared the instant he saw the pleasure and joy visible on each of the hunters faces, and most importantly, on Artemis's face. Percy forced himself to eat his apple without pause, but it was getting harder as each hunter began to glow a soft golden light. Artemis herself seemed to glow even more. Fortunately, they all seemed too preoccupied eating the apples to notice. Percy carefully timed his eating of his apple so he didn't finish too early.

Moments later, all the hunters sat back with contented sighs of pleasure. Percy pretended too, even though he was still very anxious.

"Well, that certainly was good." Percy commented.

"Yeah… that was amazing. I wish I could live forever and just eat those apples every day." Thalia said. Percy held back a smile at the irony of it.

"That, was the most impressive thing I've eaten. Very impressive." Artemis said. "And it tasted delicious. Heck, the whole dinner tasted delicious. So thank you Percy." Artemis said, giving him a warm smile. The hunters quickly added in their own thanks.

"You're welcome my lady." Percy said. "But unfortunately, all good things must end. Shall we get going then?"

Artemis nodded. "Now that Dionysus's part is over, and Lamia is killed, we will have Capture the Flag games soon. So we shall train hard tomorrow."

Percy nodded and led everyone out, right back into the limousine.

"How was your dinner Sir?" The attendant asked.

"It was wonderful. Back to our starting point please." Percy said.

"Yes sir." The attendant said, starting the car and driving off.

"So how do my little sisters feel?" Percy asked cheerily.

"Great. Energized. It's as if the apples gave us a shot of energy, it was so good." Christy said.

"Glad to hear that. What about you, my lady?" Percy asked.

Artemis was frowning slightly. Something seemed to have changed, and yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Maybe she just had too many Vesper Martini's? She'd concentrate on it later.

"I'm feeling great also. And Percy, remember, train your sisters hard for the next couple of days. I want to whack the campers ass so bad that they'll never forget." Artemis said.

Percy smiled. "Of course. Look, there's Hyperion's maple tree." Percy pointed out as they drove past it. "Amazing how powerful satyrs are in groups."

"Yes indeed…" Artemis couldn't shake the feeling. Something had definitely changed, her senses were yelling at her. "Percy, do you feel anything? Like a power change?"

Percy knew what Artemis was talking about. She was talking about her hunters. _Crap, I forgot about her godly senses._

"Let me check." Percy said, stretching his senses out. However, while he felt the Hunters change from part-immortal to full immortal, he felt something else. Something huge coming from Central Park. "My Lady, something from Central-" He was cut off as the ground rumbled.

Then a bang ripped through the air and golden light engulfed everything.


	15. Chapter 15

**Percy**

Golden light shone through the blacked out windows, forcing everyone to close their eyes. Then the ground shook even more, powerful enough to throw the limousine into the air and back onto the ground. Then everything stilled.

"That didn't sound or feel good." The driver said, a celestial bronze dagger appearing in his hand.

"That's an understatement… so you're a demigod. Son of Aphrodite?" Percy asked.

He nodded. "Name is James. I've been in the driving business for quite a while, since I couldn't stand the fact that a lot of rich people were actually monsters. And of course, my mother wanted a…report."

"I should've known…Well, you can tell your mother that everything is alright. And I'm not going to go in bed with her. So be careful and just take the limousine back to wherever it was before it gets damaged." Percy said.

James laughed. "Sure will. But how do you propose to get back then?" James asked.

"Teleport." Percy said. He turned to Artemis and his sisters. "My Lady, you alright? Everyone alright?" Percy asked.

Artemis nodded. She kicked the limousine door and quickly walked out, a bow and arrow already in her hand. Thalia and the hunters quickly hopped out, bow in hand. Percy uncapped Riptide and drew his second sword.

"It came from there. Central Park. And I have a bad feeling about it." Percy said.

"Why?" Artemis asked.

"Hyperion. He was stuck in a tree. But if Gaea isn't completely asleep yet, then that could mean she either managed to free him, or bewitched a group of satyrs to free him." Percy explained.

Artemis's eyes widened as realization hit her. "That's not good."

"Exactly." Percy said, breaking into a run. Artemis and the hunters quickly followed as James drove off. They reached Central Park and quickly surveyed the damage. Many trees had been ripped from the ground, there were large cracks on the ground, and right there, in plain sight, was a crater.

"No, NO, **NO!** " Percy yelled. He ran over to the crater. "The tree! The maple tree was right here!"

"Look! Satyrs, a lot of them. I'd say about fifteen of them. I wonder if they're still alive? Maybe we can interrogate them?" Tracy wondered, bending down to examine one of them.

"No! Tracy, STOP!" Percy yelled frantically as he rushed over to her.

Tracy froze instantly, her hands centimeters away from touching the satyr. "Why?" She asked.

"Because they could be pretending to be dead and are still dangerous." Percy said.

Percy reached out and pulled Tracy back, protectively putting himself between the satyr and Tracy. He carefully touched the satyr. The instant Percy's finger made contact, the satyr's arm shot out, a dagger in its hand. It instantly slashed, attempting to slash Percy across the chest, but Percy's reflexes were too quick. As the dagger came at him, Percy grabbed the wrist with his right hand and snapped the arm in half with his left hand. The satyr suddenly froze, and his entire body cracked. Then it slowly crumbled into a mound of dirt. Percy stepped back in shock while Artemis frowned.

"What does this mean?" Percy asked quietly.

"Go examine the other satyrs. Be careful, and be on the alert. I do not want anyone to die. That includes you, Percy." Artemis said before she could stop herself. Percy, with his years of battle experience, was the person who needed that advice the least. Percy smiled at her and the hunters smirked before walking off, spreading out to search for anything that could give them answers. Tracy started walking off too, but Artemis pulled her back.

"I hope you learned your lesson, Tracy." Artemis said seriously.

Tracy nodded solemnly. "I have, my lady."

"And what's the lesson?" Artemis asked, wanting to make sure that it stuck in her head.

"Don't be so rash and don't take everything at face value." Tracy said. "And be careful of who and what you trust."

Artemis nodded. "Good. Especially in men. They're sneaky, lying, unfaithful, rude, disgusting, arrogant, ignorant, nasty, selfish, greedy, pompous, and well, I don't think I need to go on. All men are like that." Artemis said.

The one man she was thinking about was Orion. He had _seemed_ friendly, and had _seemed_ different. After she had killed him and learned that he had raped an innocent maiden and attempted to rape one of her huntresses, she really wished that he were alive right now so she could slaughter him like a pig. But instead, she had given him a merciful death and even honoured him by putting him into the skies. She clenched her teeth at the thought. She was glad he was dead, even though she sorely wished she could take down the constellation. At least she had gotten _some_ revenge by putting the scorpion in the sky.

"Yeah, I know all men are like that. Except Percy. He'd never do anything like that to us." Tracy said.

"True. He's an exception. But that's beside the point. I'm just making sure that you remember this, because this type of stuff is experience type of stuff. You don't really learn it by someone teaching you about it." Artemis said.

"I understand my lady, and don't worry, I'll remember it." Tracy replied.

"Good. Now come, let's get searching and interrogating." Artemis said.

As it turned out, they had no need to search. They had heard Percy's growling voice, following by Thalia's sharp whistle. They rush over and found Percy holding onto and interrogating a satyr.

"Tell me! Who ordered you to do this and what happened? _Tell me!"_ Percy growled, shaking the satyr.

"Can…not. M-must s-s-save the w-wild… Release… and…she will help…rebuild…wild." The satyr gasped out.

"Who. Is. The. _She?"_ Percy growled.

The satyr opened its mouth before convulsing, it seemed to struggle for a brief instance before its eyes turned brown and its body crumbled in a pile of dirt.

"Damn. He was the only one who could talk, the others were already dead or had disappeared. What makes it worse is that these satyrs didn't die like normal satyrs. Satyrs are supposed to regenerate as a plant, usually just normal plants, but if you're a good satyr, then it's a laurel. But all these, they crumbled into dirt." Percy said.

"So that means Zeus has underestimated Gaea. She may be asleep, but her brief time awake allowed her to gain more power than we expected. We can only hope that she has used her remaining energy up, or she _may_ be able to speed up Kronos's resurrection process…" Artemis said gravely.

"That's not good. What do we do then? Scout the area, or report to Lord Zeus first?" Percy asked.

Artemis hesitated. She sensed something, and she was itching to find out. However, if she went in without Zeus's permission, she'd have to sit through Zeus's lectures, which she _hated._

"We'll go to Camp or Olympus and report first. Come, I'll teleport, it'll be faster." Artemis said. However, they were unable to group together when someone interrupted them.

"Not so fast, Artemis."

Everyone froze as hundreds of monsters appeared, completely surrounding them. Most of them were dracaene, even though Percy saw several groups of Laistrygonian Giants.

"Well, this isn't too bad. Just reveal your true form." Percy whispered.

Then the monsters parted to reveal two figures. A large, plump woman with a fake smile, serpent tongue and super sharp teeth. The other was a Chihuahua, albeit a Chihuahua that looked like it had gotten a steroid injection and was wearing thick metal plating.

"Echidna." Percy growled as he stepped in front of Artemis, ensuring that if the Chimera attacked, he'd take the full force of it.

"Perseus Jackson. How _nice_ it is to see you again." Echidna said, her tongue flicking in and out. The Chihuahua-Chimera growled and stepped forward. "Not yet sonny, soon." The Chimera obediently stepped back a bit, although it continued staring at Percy.

Percy and Echidna stared at each other, Percy's eyes a harsh and poisonous green that indicated he was ready to kill, while Echidna's red slit-eyes seemed to be analyzing him.

"So Lamia lied. You _were_ working with her then." Percy said.

"No. She was not lying. I merely followed her because it made my, ah, _meals_ easier. It also gave me a chance to verify the rumours that you, Percy Jackson, became a Guardian of the Hunt." Echidna hissed.

"What do you want?" Percy snarled.

"Well, I had two objectives. The first one was to help Hyperion escape. With the help of the satyrs, it was easy. Then I was supposed to buy him some time if he needed it. Which is what I'm doing right now. Three, you are to come with me, or we kill the Hunters. Or shall I say, your _sisters?"_ Echidna said, emphasizing the last word.

Percy clenched his fists. "Don't you _dare_ do anything to them or Artemis." Percy said harshly.

"Then surrender yourself, and I can promise you that no harm will come to them, now or in the future. I swear on the Styx." Echidna said silkily. Thunder boomed.

"What do you want with Percy anyways?" Artemis snarled. If it weren't for the fact that her hunters were being held at near point-blank, she'd have taken Percy's advice and revealed her divine form.

"Merely the fact that Gaia's last wishes included Percy. That's really all that I can tell you. So are you coming or not? Either way, we will get you. The only difference is that one situation is where the Hunters are alive, and the other situation is where we leave the Hunters dead." Echidna said. "So those are your options. Choose quickly."

Percy thought for an instant. While his sisters were immortal, getting pecked by arrows was a nasty and painful way to die, and there was no way he'd let that happen. He also had no idea what their reform time was. And he _really_ didn't want to reveal to Artemis that her Hunters were immortal this soon, he wanted to keep it in the dark for as long as possible. He was about to answer when Artemis answered for him.

"He's not going anywhere. Percy, I forbid you to hand yourself over like fruit on a platter." Artemis growled.

"It's the only way my lady, to save you and your huntresses from much pain." Percy replied steadily.

"And you don't think that you leaving _me_ -us-wouldn't cause any pain either?" Artemis whispered furiously.

"It's my duty, my lady. It would be dishonourable of me to have a chance to live at the pain of the others." Percy replied, steady as ever.

"To hell with your honour! Either we go down together, or you don't go at all!" Artemis hissed, letting her emotions take over her mind.

"I'm sure I will be alright, my lady. Your safety is my first priority." Percy said, feeling touched that Artemis cared so much about him.

"You swore an oath by Chaos, right? So I _order_ you to _not_ hand yourself over. I forbid it." Artemis said.

Percy smiled a smile she didn't like. "If I remember correctly, I never swore an Oath to follow your orders, my lady. I only swore an oath to protect you and the Hunt. I only followed your orders because I wanted to." Percy said, giving her a cocky grin.

Artemis froze as she realized what he had just said was true. She glared at him with outrage. " _Damn_ you, Percy Jackson!" She hissed as she involuntarily smacked Percy across the face, temporarily forgetting that they had company.

"I'm sorry, my lady." Percy said. He did his special bow to her and saluted to his sisters, who were staring at him in shock.

"No Percy, don't! All of us, we'll die for you! You know it!" Thalia screamed as the other hunters dropped their weapons to stop Percy from handing himself over.

The look of hurt and pleading in Artemis's and his sisters eyes were almost too much to bear, but Percy held his resolve. He snapped his fingers and a ring of green fire surrounded Artemis and the Hunters.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot risk it." Percy whispered. He nodded to them once before turning to Echidna, who was smiling evilly.

"Now that's a good boy. And should any of you Hunters try to attack us from behind…" Echidna clicked her fingers and the Chihuahua instantly turned into its full Chimera form. It bared its teeth at Percy and snapped them shut. "Then you know what'll happen."

Artemis's silver eyes snapped with pure fury. "You'll pay for this, Echidna. I swear." Artemis whispered harshly

Echidna merely smirked as she produced a pair of celestial bronze handcuffs.

"I look forward to your reaction when you find young Perseus here in our little chamber. Or perhaps spending some _quality_ time with other females." She spun Percy around and snapped on the handcuffs. "They're completely magic and fireproof. So don't even try to melt your way out, it'll just make it more painful for you. Now say good-bye to your family for the last time. At least I'm nice enough to do that for you."

Percy looked up and stared into his sisters eyes. He looked into Thalia's eyes, which were filled with hate, although towards him or Echidna, he didn't know. Hopefully the latter. Then he met Artemis's furious silver eyes. They were filled with so much anger, Percy nearly flinched. Knowing that the monsters were watching him carefully, he let his eyes burst into flames for a split second and gave the slightest of nods, hoping that Artemis would pick up on the signal.

"Enough. Now follow me peacefully boy, and we'll treat you a little better." Echidna snarled as she dragged at Percy's suit. Percy followed as the other monsters put their bows and weapons away and followed Echidna.

"My Lady, we can't let him be taken like that!" Thalia said urgently. "We have to do something!"

"Yeah, who knows what they'll do to him? At best, he'll be killed. And at worst…" Phoebe left the sentence hanging. There were many things worse than death.

"I know. But wait. Get your weapons ready." Artemis said with clenched teeth.

Percy was flanked by two large Laistrygonian giants with iron grips as he followed Echidna, who almost seemed to be dancing with her success and the Chimera, who was, well, was still growling at him. Percy shifted his hands slightly.

"You know, you're Echidna, the Mother of all monsters, and the wife of Typhon. I would've thought that you didn't take orders. And yet, here you are, Gaea's _bitch_. It's almost pathetic." Percy spat.

Echidna whirled around, her eyes flashing. She stepped closer as she seemed to grow in size. "I shall ignore your insulting tone of voice just this _once._ One more time, and you shall find yourself in the worst corners of Tartarus." Echidna snarled.

Percy smiled thinly as he readied himself. "Perhaps… but not today."

His hands turned to liquid, and with no solid matter for the handcuffs to bind, they clattered to the ground, empty. Percy did a flip and with a loud crack, sent Echidna reeling as he smashed her chin with his feet. He raised his hand and yelled, slamming his fist into the ground. A wall of fire and pure force shot outward from in a circle, throwing Echidna and the Chimera back while instantly vaporizing all monsters within 30 feet of him. The ground shook as deep cracks appeared in the ground in front of the Hunters, completely stopping the monsters from engaging the Hunters in close combat.

"Hunters!" Percy roared.

"Now!" Artemis screamed in unison.

A rain of arrows fell upon the screaming and shocked monsters, each arrow taking out a monster with laser precision. Artemis herself had fired a volley of what she called "heavy arrows." Arrows that contained the force of a bomb. They landed with muffled explosions, destroying any monster within its blast radius and sending out concussive waves that knocked any standing monster right off their feet, making them easy targets for the Hunters.

However, even with such surprising and forceful attacks, wiping out many monsters, large numbers of monsters still remained, and the Chimera was very dangerous. Percy knew it and motioned to Artemis to take care of Echidna while he took on the Chimera.

Percy summoned a fiery tornado and threw it at a group of _dracaene_ archers, instantly burning them to a crisp while he summoned a hurricane on his other hand and directed it towards the Chimera. It sent the Chimera flying and Percy quickly ripped off his suit and dress shirt, since they were tight, and if he were to take on an adversary like the Chimera, he'd need all the flexibility he could get. Artemis somersaulted over him as she began to engage Echidna while Percy took out both of his swords and swung them once to loosen himself. And while the Chimera was still struggling to its feet, he charged.

Aiming only to hit through its thick armour, Percy brought his swords down in a hammer blow, one after the other. They slammed into the Chimera with deadly force, sparks flying as the armour cracked, but didn't break. The Chimera fell back down again, but its snake-headed tail whipped out, teeth bared, venom dripping from its fangs. Percy leapt backwards as he avoided the deadly bite and shot a stream of water from his hand, causing the Chimera to roar in frustration as it tumbled backwards.

The Chimera rolled over and opened its mouth, sending a powerful stream of fire right at Percy. Being the stupid monster it was, the Chimera probably expected Percy to be roasted to a crisp. Instead, Percy charged straight through and slashed with both swords, drawing two deep lines in the Chimera's armour. It snarled and snapped its tail, slamming into Percy and causing him to fly backwards. While Percy was down, the Chimera reacted with startling speed and pounced on top of Percy, drawing lines of pain and blood as it swiped with its claws.

Percy gritted his teeth as he curled up and kicked out with both feet, causing the Chimera to fly off him. Ignoring the pain on his chest, he pointed his hand at the ground right below the Chimera and summoned a geyser. The Chimera shot into the air, unable to get back onto the ground due to the geyser below him. Percy wound back his arm and let both Riptides fly, praying that his aim wouldn't fail him in his moment of need.

It didn't. Both swords slammed into the Chimera, impaling the Chimera all the way up to the hilt. He snapped his fingers and the geyser shot upwards before taking hold of the Chimera and smashing it back into the ground with a crash. He turned to survey the ongoing battle, assuming that the Chimera was destroyed, since no monster could withstand two – 3 foot long bars of celestial bronze stuck inside them.

Gods, but was he wrong.

He quickly searched for Artemis and relaxed when he saw her pounding Echidna to a pulp with a mixture of arrows, knives and godly powers. Echidna had a fearful look on her face and kept on using monsters as a shield, although it was quite useless since Artemis would just plow straight through them. He turned to his sisters, who were clearly holding their own thanks to the deep cracks Percy had created in the ground in front of them. A few hunters were in close combat with them, but he wasn't particularly worried so long as they weren't outnumbered. He raised his hand, ready to give the Hunters a blast of assistance when a massive force slammed into him, pinning him to the ground.

He crashed face first into the ground as something huge landed on top of his back, and he could hear snarling. Instinctively, Percy let loose a blast of his upgraded powers, sending out a wave of force that knocked the monster off him. He quickly jumped back up to his feet and to his great surprise, found it was the Chimera.

"What the…?" Percy asked, shocked. He had seen both of his swords impale the Chimera. He looked over to the mound of rubble where he had tossed the Chimera and saw a massive piece of metal with two holes in it. Percy then turned back to the Chimera and saw that it had two small wounds on its side. " _You had that thick of an armour on?"_

The Chimera seemed to chuckle as it leapt forward and lashed out with its tail. Percy gave a growl of frustration as he ducked. This little pest was beginning to annoying the crap out of him, and he was going to end it _now._

He drew Riptide, and the second time the Chimera swung its tail, Percy grabbed the snake head with his left hand, clenching his hand into a fist to prevent the snake from biting him. He swung Riptide and severed the head, rendering the tail useless. Planting his feet into the ground, he wrapped the headless tail around his forearm and yanked hard. The Chimera flew towards him and Percy held Riptide straight out, keeping his arm as straight as he could.

The Chimera roared with pain as he crashed into Riptide, the latter which had stuck deep into its body. Without wasting time, Percy unwrapped its tail from his forearm and pulled out his second sword, plunging it right next to the first one. The Chimera screamed and thrashed, but already its form was flickering. Then Percy pulled both of his swords in opposite directions with a savage roar, literally ripping the Chimera in half. The Chimera imploded violently into a cloud of monster dust.

"NOO! MY SONNY!" Echidna screamed. Her anguish scream seemed to pierce through everything, but was abruptly cut short as Artemis slammed the hilt of her knife right into Echidna's face, adding another bruise onto an already beaten up face. It seemed to Percy that Artemis was trying to inflict as much pain onto Echidna as impossible, since her strikes were painful and brutal, not deadly and killing. Recapping Riptide, he walked over to the Hunters, who were currently in the middle of a standoff. A row of monsters were facing a row of Hunters, arrows nocked, face to face. Percy grinned. What a perfect formation.

He thrust his right hand towards the ground, palm facing downwards and shot a stream of fire. It pooled at his feet for just an instant before it surged forward like a wildfire, setting the entire line of monsters on fire in a split nanosecond. Needless to say, the Hunters were very surprised as they were now staring at a wall of green flames. Percy grinned and snapped his fingers. The flames died down as the Hunters glared at him.

"Hello little sisters. You all safe and alright?" Percy asked, his mouth curving into a smile as he surveyed his sisters and saw that none of them suffered anything worse than cuts so minor that they didn't even bleed. They closed before his eyes, and his smile grew at the indication that they were fully immortal.

"Yes, we're alright, "big brother". You're cut, so shouldn't we be worrying about you?" Thalia said, indicating Percy's wounds on his chest as she put her bow away.

Percy looked down at his bare chest. They wounds from the Chimera's claws had been relatively minor, and were already closing, thanks to Chaos's little gift when he made Percy a half- immortal. He shrugged.

"Already healing. You don't happen to know where my shirt is, do you?" Percy asked.

Thalia shook her head. "You look better without a shirt anyway. I'm sure Artemis would agree." Thalia said, smirking as she gave Percy a hug.

The other Hunters quickly walked over before they piled him in an embrace. Tracy climbed onto Phoebe's shoulder so she could climb onto Percy's back.

"Hey look, I'm touched and all, but why all the hugs?" Percy asked, his face red mainly because of what Thalia said, but also because he wasn't wearing a shirt and the Hunters didn't seem to care at all.

"Because you're back with us, Seaweed Brain. Now come on, let's go check on Artemis. Or should I say, we go check on poor Echidna?" Thalia replied.

"Yes, let's." Percy said, walking towards Artemis, who currently seemed to be kicking Echidna.

"You girls needn't have worried so much. You know I'd never leave you all, unless it's against my own will." Percy chuckled. "And even if it was against my will, I'd fight it."

"Good. Don't forget your promise that you made to me, Percy." Tracy said, resting her chin on Percy's head.

"Don't worry Tracy, I won't forget. I promise." Percy said warmly.

"I trust you." Tracy said simply.

They had reached Artemis and Echidna, the latter who was literally getting her ass whooped. Percy examined Echidna and saw thousands of cuts and repulsive bruises all over her face and body. Percy vaguely wondered how Artemis managed to do that much damage in a _dress_ when he looked at Artemis and realized that she had changed into her Hunter's outfit.

 _Lucky. I wish Aphrodite had given me the ability to change my clothes. Then I wouldn't have to lose my suit._ Percy thought. He was pulled from his thoughts as Artemis continued to beat Echidna up.

"Not so pompous now, are you Echidna?" Artemis snarled as she fired several blunt-tipped arrows at point-blank range straight at Echidna's stomach. Echidna spasmed before coughing at Artemis's feet.

"Please Artemis, haven't you dealt enough pain to satisfy yourself?" Echidna coughed out.

"Now who's the one begging for mercy?" Artemis snarled, gripping her bow tightly in her hand.

"Just let me go. Please, I swear that I won't cause trouble. How could I, if I don't have my pet with me?" Echidna said.

"You're pretty dangerous by yourself, Echidna. And if I let you go, how do I know you won't try to come back and take my Percy?" Artemis growled.

"I swear on the Styx. Let me go. Please." Echidna begged.

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "Since you gave Perseus an ultimatum, I'll give you one also. You run away and get out of my sight in ten seconds, _or_ you can let me kill you quickly and swiftly, right here and right now."

"Is there a third option?" Echidna squeaked.

The flash in Artemis's silver eyes was all the answer Echidna needed.

"Ok, ok, I'll take the first option." Echidna squealed, scrambling to her feet and limping off as quickly as she could.

Artemis stared at the slowly disappearing figure of Echidna with exasperation.

"You run slower than Perseus… and that's saying a lot." Artemis muttered under her breath. She picked an arrow that looked like it had the flat side of a sledge hammer on the tip out of her quiver and nocked it. She slowly took aim and let loose. The arrow flew straight and true, smashing into the back of Echidna's head with such force that it ripped it clean off.

For about 5 seconds, everyone could clearly see Echidna's headless figure. Then it slowly slumped to its knees before bursting into a cloud of dust.

"That was gross." Percy said simply, startling Artemis. She whirled around and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Percy!" She exclaimed, walking forward. "You-You're alright! Well, mostly… except for your chest and face." Artemis said, tracing the cuts on his chest with her finger before she realized what she was doing and hastily stepped backwards, blushing furiously as she did so.

Percy blushed too, but since Tracy was around his neck, it was easier to hide.

"Of course I'm alright, my lady. Don't expect me to leave all of you just because of some little pest. He's much easier to kill than La- erm, than the other monsters I've faced before." Percy said, hoping that Artemis wouldn't notice his little slip.

Thalia noticed, seeing as she arched her eyebrow ever so slightly, but thankfully Artemis didn't seem to have noticed.

"Good. Because you still have much to learn, and I haven't even tried out my new method of teaching you archery yet." Artemis said, tearing her gaze away from his bare torso. "Don't you have a shirt?"

"I had to take off my suit and shirt, since they were too restricting. I couldn't change my clothes like you can, and my sisters shirts are too small." Percy explained.

"Or you could just ask me." Artemis said, snapping her fingers and summoning a silver shirt.

"That works too." Percy said, smiling as he took the shirt from her. "Tracy, you're going to have to get off."

"Awww, I was just getting comfortable." Tracy whined.

"Tracy, come on."

"Fine." Tracy pouted before hopping off Percy and into the arms of Phoebe.

"Thank you." Percy said, pulling on his shirt. It was a bit tight, but it'd do.

"So now what? Look around and try to figure out where Hyperion went, or go back to camp and warn the rest of the gods?" Percy asked.

Artemis thought for a minute before answering.

"It is pointless to try to catch Hyperion now. The whole point of Echidna being here was probably to distract us. And attempt to get our Guardian here. We go back and warn the others right now. Come, we'll teleport, it'll be faster." Artemis concluded.

"Alright, see you girls there." Percy said, extending his wings. There was a ripping sound and he turned around to find bits of silver cloth hanging from his wings. He had completely forgotten that this shirt didn't have slits for his wings. "Oh crap…"

"Percy! You destroyed my shirt! And where do you think you're going?" Artemis asked.

"I need some fresh air. And also, I heard what you said about me when you were talking about how slow Echidna was." Percy said. He waved at his sisters and threw a wink at Artemis before launching himself into the air.

Artemis stared at the rapidly disappearing Guardian before shaking her head.

"What is it, my lady?" Thalia asked.

"I simply underestimate him. Many times." Artemis said as she gathered her hunters into a circle.

"Or perhaps he's just unique and special, my lady." Thalia whispered right as Artemis teleported them all to Camp.

Percy breathed in the cool and untainted air from high above New York City. The real reason why he hadn't wanted to travel with Artemis, even if it was a short teleport, was that Artemis would ask him about the power change that was emanating from the Hunters. His sisters may not know it themselves, but they were already more powerful than they originally were.

He saw a distant flash of silver light and knew that Artemis had already arrived, so he pumped his wings harder. He was about to land when a voice spoke in his mind.

 _Yo boss, how's it going!_

 _Hey Blackjack, nothing much, but My Lady is probably already calling an audience with Zeus._ Percy replied telepathically.

A patch of darkness seemed to detach itself from the night and flew next to him.

 _Damn, now that you have wings, you won't need me anymore, boss._ Blackjack said.

 _No way Blackjack! Of course I'd need you! You're still the fastest Pegasus around. And don't call me boss!_ Percy replied.

Blackjack let out a whinny of laughter. _Whatever you say_ BOSS! _Cya latah!_ Blackjack said, zooming off to the stables.

Percy grumbled under his breath. Blackjack hadn't changed a single bit, ever since he'd first met him. Percy smiled. Sometimes, that was the way he liked it. Percy dropped down silently onto the ground, a little ways off from where Artemis was walking towards the Amphitheater. Transforming into liquid form, he quietly followed in their shadows, unseen.

Artemis and the Hunters had just arrived at the Amphitheater when there was a burst of black fire and Hades appeared. He seemed rather panicked and looked around as if he were searching for something.

"Niece! Um, I mean, Lady Artemis, have you seen Zeus? I have something of utmost importance to tell him." Hades said urgently.

Artemis frowned. "I came here for the same thing. I have some troubling news, and I was going to call him. Why didn't you call him?"

"Oh no, I don't want to call him when Aphrodite is messing with Zeus and Hera. That's a one-way trip to a place I really don't want to be in." Hades said. "Speaking of which, where's Perseus?"

"He's coming. Well, I suppose Zeus cannot yell at me, since I was…away." Artemis said. "Father! Olympians! I call upon all of you _now!_ " Artemis yelled into the sky.

A rumble roared through the sky, followed by some voices.

"Wait daughter!"

"Ahh, don't disturb me!"

"Sis, hold on please!"

"Yeessss, hhhoolldd o-o-n-n-n…."

Hades raised an eyebrow. "Maybe then went a bit overload on the party?"

Artemis clenched her teeth together. "Well, they won't ignore _this._ " She magically pulled a horn out of thin air. " _My_ distress signal." She raised it to her lips and blew it once.

The resulting blast was powerful enough to cause Percy's liquid form to jiggle and bounce around on the ground. It seemed to echo on and on when suddenly twelve very bright flashes appeared instantly. All the other Olympians had appeared in a split second, dressed in full battle regalia.

"Camp? Artemis! Why did you sound your horn when nothing is wrong!" Zeus demanded angrily.

"Because I have some very bad news. Lord Hades says he bears bad news too." Artemis replied.

"How bad, sis?" Apollo asked.

" _Titan_ bad." Artemis said, her voice deadly serious.

Zeus frowned as everyone stood stock still. "What about you, Lord Hades?"

"The same thing, brother." Hades replied.

"Hermes, go to the beach and get all the campers back here. With that many demigods there, the scent will be overpowering and dangerous without our presence. After you have done that, the Immortal Campers. We will meet in this, um, Ping-Pong room, I believe that is what it is called." Zeus said.

"At once, Father." Hermes said, bowing before he disappeared in a flash of light.

Everyone waited in silence until Artemis broke it with a valid question.

"Father, you all are _still_ partying? It's 11 o'clock!" Artemis asked.

"Oh, um, well, it _was_ actually getting quite fun, and I even managed to beat Poseidon at volleyball!" Zeus said excitedly.

"Stop rubbing it in my face, brother. My son would easily beat you." Poseidon grumbled. "Speaking of which, Artemis, where is he?"

"Oh, he's near. Pretty close. There's nothing to worry about." Artemis said, her eyes glancing over to where Percy currently was.

Percy was quite surprised until she spoke into his mind.

 _Did you really forget what I told you? I told you that I could sense whenever you are near. I can't exactly pinpoint your position like you can with me, but I can still sense you._ Artemis said cheekily into his mind.

Percy sighed. He _had_ forgotten. And while he offered no reply, he felt warm and strangely content that Artemis could sense him whenever he was near. It was a nice feeling.

Zeus seemed to stiffen slightly. "Why is that I sense… a power change? I sense more immortals than there should be."

"I sense it too, Father. I believe it has something to do with our news." Artemis said, even though she too was frowning. "And Ares, I must ask, what is the matter with you? Did Athena beat you up that badly?"

Percy turned his gaze upon Ares and flinched. Ares was covered in bandages;his right leg was in a cast while his right arm was in a sling. He was hunched over, and his face had several thick bandages. His sling seemed to be drenched in ichor. Ares glanced at Aphrodite, who raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Yeah. I uh, made fun of Athena and paid the price." Ares grumbled out.

"Athena, is that true?" Artemis asked.

Athena also glanced towards Aphrodite, who cocked her head slightly. Athena nodded.

"It was quite a pleasure." Athena said simply.

Artemis narrowed her eyes slightly. "Well, if that's true, then I can't say anything about it, since Ares was always a pig. But I don't know, it just seems that Ares just got his arm snapped, got beaten up, then got blown up, _from several exploding cars,_ don't you think?"

Aphrodite looked rather panicked and Ares flinched, but Athena merely had a 'I-told-you-so' look on her face, but they were spared from answering Artemis by the arrival of Hermes

An explosion of light appeared around all of them. Hermes and all the campers were there, all of them looking worn out and some looking rather punch drunk.

"All of them are in fine condition, other than quite a few hangovers, and the Immortal Campers are right here." Hermes said, bowing.

"Thank you Hermes." Zeus said. He turned to the Immortal Campers. "Now, into the war room or Ping-Pong room. Whichever. There is something very important we must talk about."

They bowed and Zeus snapped his fingers, instantly teleporting them all into the war room. Except for Percy.

Percy grumbled under his breath. He quickly slid his way to the Big House before reforming back into a human form and opening the door manually. He then walked over to where the Ping-Pong table was located and transformed into liquid form and sliding underneath the door. He pooled himself at the foot of Artemis's chair, quietly thanking Chaos that she wasn't wearing a dress or a skirt. As if Artemis had heard his thoughts, her foot came down and nudged him aside.

"So, Artemis, you start first, since you and your Hunters look rather disheveled, and their clothing isn't exactly in top condition." Zeus's voice boomed out in the room.

Artemis nodded. "Hyperion is free."

Stunned silence.

"That-that's not possible. He was trapped in a maple tree, thanks to Percy and the satyrs!" Athena exclaimed, for once stuttering.

"We've seen it with our own eyes. Fought a group of monsters too, which included Echidna and the Chimera." Artemis said seriously.

"The Chimera? Isn't that some type of near unbeatable monster?" Jason asked hesitantly.

Annabeth shuddered. "Not unbeatable. Bellerophon killed it, with the help of Pegasus. He's the only one to ever have defeated it. Percy met Echidna and the Chimera when he was twelve, at the St. Louis Arch. He nearly got killed by it if it hadn't been for the fact that he jumped out and landed in the Mississippi River." Annabeth said hoarsely.

"This Echidna and Chimera… are they dead or still alive?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, dead. Very much dead. I killed Echidna, after giving her a round of punishment. The Chimera was ripped apart. _Literally_ ripped apart, from what I've heard. The monsters were all killed. But we currently have no trace of Hyperion. But I am _positive_ he is free, because a satyr that Percy interrogated confirmed it, along with Echidna. Also, his maple tree is gone. In its place is a crater." Artemis said.

"Who killed the Chimera then?" Leo asked.

Reyna snorted derisively. "Who else? Percy Jackson. I bet he did. Is that correct, Lady Artemis?" Reyna asked respectfully.

"Always right on you were, Reyna." Percy said, choosing that moment to reveal himself.

He slowly reformed, piece by piece, adding in the typical water effects from mortal movies to make a deeper impression. He gave a wicked grin and allowed his eyes to burst into their immortal form, flaming depths of green fire. The Campers all jerked backwards, even Nico, while the Hunters shrieked with laughter.

"Always the show off, aren't you, Perseus." Artemis said, smiling as she looked up at Percy.

"Of course. How can I resist, with the God of Theater sitting right there?" Percy said, jerking his head towards Zeus, who gave a rumble of laughter.

"I'll show you when this is over, young Perseus." Zeus said.

Percy bowed. "I expect nothing less."

"Whoa, whoa, back up, back up. Perce, did you really just kill _the_ Chimera?" Leo asked, his eyes wide. The Immortal Campers smiled. Even after all these months, Leo still thought of Percy as god-like.

"Yes. You wouldn't believe how thick its armour was. Three feet of celestial of bronze right in, and it barely got cut." Percy grumbled.

"Oh wow, so was that your hardest fight? Can you show me what you did?" Leo asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in his chair.

"Leo, I didn't have a camcorder with me while I was fighting. And no, that was not my hardest fight." Percy said.

"Awww, I wanted to watch you rip apart the Chimera. Then what was your hardest fight?" Leo asked.

Percy's eyes flicked to Athena, who gave a covert smile, and Nico, who smirked ever so slightly, since they were one of the very few who knew what he had done.

Percy shrugged. "Porphyrion. But Leo, it's not about how well you fight or what you've done. Ok, it has a little bit to do with it, but if you're a nasty person on the inside, like Hercules, then you'll never get any real respect. Sure, you'll have your own little fan base of shallow idiots who get their… _podex_ whipped all the time, but other than that, nothing. I know from personal experience. Courtesy of a dream and an ex-Hunter." Percy said seriously.

Everyone sat in silence, absorbing Percy's words. Thalia was the first to break it.

"Congratulations Percy, you're not the foolish, bimbo head I used to know." Thalia said, cracking a laugh as she slapped Percy on the arm. Percy raised an eyebrow at her while she gave him a hug.

"What was that for?" Percy asked. Thalia shrugged.

"I dunno. I feel like it." Thalia said, grinning impishly as she pulled back.

"Putting aside her sisterly affections foryou, Perseus, Thalia is correct. You have become a much wiser warrior, perhaps in part to my blessing, but mostly because of yourself." Athena said.

A couple eyebrows went up at this, since Athena hardly called _anyone_ wise.

"Thank you Lady Athena, coming from you, that means a lot. And I truly mean no offense, but you too have quite a few things to learn about." Percy said.

Instead of looking offended, she looked rather alarmed. Quickly exchanging a glance with Poseidon, she did her best to act her usual self.

"Your meaning, Perseus?"

"Well, you had originally thought that I, a spawn of sea scum, was not worthy of your daughter. Turns out you were wrong." Percy said cheekily.

Annabeth flinched while Athena rolled her eyes.

"Very well, perhaps I was wrong that _once,_ but I _am_ the Wisdom Goddess, so I am much wiser than you." Athena said.

"Of course. I would never dare to think that I'm wiser than you, but wisdom is never given. It is gained, and it is up to the person to see whether they are competent enough to face the truth, or shy away from it like a man." Percy said.

Athena cocked her head. "Impressive. That was actually a very impressive comeback. I see that small blessing has done wonders to your stupid brain."

Percy grinned before stepping backwards to stand behind Artemis.

"Hey, hold on a second Percy, men don't shy away from the truth. Look at me, or Frank, or Leo. We never shrink away from the truth." Jason said indignantly.

Percy turned his gaze upon Jason.

"Watch yourself Jason, that's your ego talking. And it'll be worse for you, since you're a Son of Jupiter. Thalia has managed to control most of it, but that's because Thalia is a Greek. You're a Roman, so watch it. I wouldn't want to be Piper if you're going to let your ego get bigger." Percy said, his tone foreboding.

Jason gulped before reaching under the table to take Piper's hand while Thalia shot a triumphant smirk at her blood brother. Thalia stopped however when Percy raised an eyebrow at her.

"And while some men may not shy away from the truth, they never face it like us Hunters." Percy said, grinning at his sisters. They smiled back fondly at their "big brother". "Now, enough off-subject talk, let us go back to what we came here for."

Zeus nodded. "What else happened, Artemis?"

"Before everything happened, we had been…walking along, and then the ground shook like an earthquake. It was accompanied by a brilliant flash of light from Central Park, which Percy says was where Hyperion's maple tree had previously stood. We went to investigate, and found a large group of satyrs, most of them already dead or under spell." Artemis said, her gaze flicking to Tracy. She took a breath and continued,

"We split up and Percy managed to interrogate a satyr who hadn't died yet, and all the satyr was able to say was that he had to save the wild, and "she" would help if they released the being inside the maple tree. Then his eyes turned brown and he crumbled into dirt." Artemis said.

Silence followed her words as the gods pondered what they should do next.

"Perhaps we should let Lord Hades tell his side of the story, so we can see whether there is any connection between the two?" Athena suggested.

Everyone quickly nodded and turned to Hades, who smiled slightly for being the center of attention.

"This certainly has a connection with Artemis's experience. A while ago, I felt a disturbance. Very recently, I felt something rather powerful break into Tartarus, and escape with a prisoner. That prisoner is the Titan Krios." Hades said.

"What? _Krios?_ The titan that took me _forever_ to kill?" Jason asked, horrified.

Hades nodded solemnly. "The same one. I believe that when Hyperion escaped, he helped Krios break out of his prison. But, Hyperion himself would not be strong enough; I also believe that Gaea used the last of her energy to help Hyperion."

"Gaea? That is not good… What about the others? Kronos? Anyone else released?" Zeus asked, frowning.

Hades shook his head. "No Lord Zeus, Kronos is as scattered as ever, even thinner than before. The other Titans are still locked up tight and secure, while I have tripled the security on Tartarus to the point that even Percy Jackson himself in full rage mode could not break into it." Hades said.

"What do you mean, that even I can't break into it?" Percy asked, confused.

Thalia chuckled as she shook her head.

"Never mind. You are still the same old Seaweed Brain I knew before." Thalia said, smiling.

"But what do you mean?" Percy asked, confused as ever.

Artemis groaned. "Well, good to see that you're still as humble and modest as ever. I like that. Well, what Hades meant was that if you couldn't get into Tartarus, then no one can." Artemis said.

"That doesn't make any sense. Any of you Olympians could easily blow me apart. Well, except Ares that is." Percy said.

The gods couldn't help but laugh at Percy's simplicity while Ares glared at him.

"Let's just say that Lord Hades was merely using you as a figure of speech, shall we?" Athena suggested, smiling slightly.

Percy nodded uncertainly while Ares continued to glare at him.

"Watch it kid, you already took my girlfriend, don't give me another excuse for me to kill you." Ares growled.

"Excuse _me,_ but I didn't take your "girlfriend" from you. More like she detached herself from you. About time, since I always questioned her sanity when it came to you." Percy shot back.

Hephaestus boomed a laugh while Ares opened his mouth to offer a nasty retort, but was interrupted by Aphrodite.

"Enough." Aphrodite said, her voice laden with power. Ares instantly sat back, relaxed, while Percy twitched and instantly tensed up, his eyes flaring in reaction to Aphrodite's charmspeak. Aphrodite gave him a sly and seductive look.

"Hey, does that mean we're on? Forever?" Aphrodite asked sweetly.

"No. I've seen enough of you to last me a lifetime, thank you very much." Percy said. "I still haven't forgiven you for kissing me either."

"Oh c'mon Percy, you probably didn't like it because I didn't give you my godly kiss. We could do it tonight, all you have to do is just come to my palace. I guarantee it'll be the best experience in your life. And if it isn't we improve, can't we?" Aphrodite asked hopefully.

Percy groaned and shot Piper a 'help me please' look. She nodded slightly.

"Mom! Please, do you know how embarrassing and _awkward_ it is to see my own mother try to hit on one of my friends? Especially since it's Percy?" Piper shrieked.

"So? What's wrong? You have Jason, why can't I try to go after Percy? He's adorable, you know. Absolutely perfect." Aphrodite said, continuing to stare at Percy. "And that shirt of his is only maximizing his appeal."

Both Percy and Piper groaned again. Thankfully, Zeus rescued them. Sort of.

"Alright, alright, whatever! How about we get this important matter done _first,_ then you can go bed with Perseus or whatever you want!" Zeus grumbled, his patience obviously at an end.

"Of course! That means I have your permission to bed Percy?" Aphrodite squealed excitedly.

"Forget it. Now Hades, continue your story." Zeus commanded. Hades nodded.

"There isn't much more, other than the fact that we now have two Titans on the loose, and many groups of monsters. And I cannot locate them, which means they are already deep in hiding." Hades said.

Percy nodded. "Lord Hades, when you said 'many groups of monsters', what type of monsters? Drakons? Basilisks?"

Hades shook his head.

"No drakons, I'm positive. Basilisks, maybe. Maybe not. But I can assure you that Krios is the only powerful one to escape, all the other monsters will be no worse than hellhounds. Gaea would not waste her energy in bringing back a couple extra monsters. These are probably monsters who took the chance, or perhaps Hyperion helped them out." Hades replied.

"But how can Earth-lady help? I thought we defeated her?" Leo asked, his eyes a mixture of fear and hate. Fear because she was a nasty and powerful goddess, but hate because she killed his mother, something Percy could fully relate to.

"Someone as powerful as Gaea does not fall immediately. It will take her a while. And don't forget, Gaea is very cunning; she may have spawned this plan before our final battle in Greece. All we can do is just hope that Gaea has used the last of her energy and that this is the worst of it." Hephaestus explained slowly.

Everyone was quiet after this, since just the mere notion that Gaea wasn't fully asleep sent shivers down everyone's spine.

"So what can we do in the meantime?" Frank finally asked.

"For now, nothing. Hades, Poseidon and I will work together to see what monsters have escaped, and we will try to locate them all. When we do, we will need to wipe them out immediately." Zeus said, looking each of them in the eye. "Do you all understand?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Meeting adjourned, we will meet again, soon enough." Zeus announced.

He took Hera's hand and suddenly, an electrical storm brewed around them, thousands of tendrils of electricity crackled around them. Then they seemed to form a large portal and the electric tendrils stretched, as if they were being sucked into a hole. Slowly, Zeus and Hera disappeared, piece by piece, they too looking as if they were being sucked away. Then there was a bang, a flash of light, and they were gone.

Poseidon gave a snort. "Have you all noticed that he never seems to think up ideas of his own? Always copying…" Poseidon grumbled.

Hades actually chuckled. "I give you permission to come to my palace, brother. Don't be late." He said. "Oh, Nico, once you're done up here, I need you to do patrol."

Nico groaned but he nodded. "Yes father. I understand."

"Good." Hades said. He slowly faded away in a sparkle of black smoke.

The other gods quickly stood up and some disappeared in little flashes of light immediately. Hermes gave Percy a cheerful wink before disappearing, Apollo gave him a curt nod, Athena flashed him a smile and Ares gave him one last glare before teleporting away.

"Well my boy, it seems we cannot relax and have our surfing competition as of yet. But once we crush those Titans, with your help, we'll be able to have all the free time in the world." Poseidon said, walking over and embracing Percy in a big hug.

"Thanks Dad, I'm sure you'll be able to kill them all without any help. I know how powerful you are." Percy said, pulling back.

For a second, doubt and worry flitted across Poseidon's face, but then it was replaced by his usual smile. Percy caught it however, and instantly began wondering what was wrong.

"We'll see. Later son." Poseidon said.

"Bye Dad." Percy replied. Poseidon faded away, leaving a strong smell of the sea behind.

"Your father is right you know. We will need your help in defeating the Titans, my champion." Hestia said, giving him a warm smile while embracing him in a tight hug.

"Thanks Lady Hestia. Don't worry, I'll always be available if you or Dad need me, my patron." Percy said, returning the hug.

"Excuse me, but what _me?_ " Artemis asked, standing up and punching Percy on the arm, her eyes glittering with amusement.

"Oww my lady, why did you punch me? Of course I'm always ready for you, wherever and whenever you call. That's understood." Percy said, pulling back from Hestia's hug as he rubbed the spot where Artemis had punched him.

"Well, it's _understood_ that I should punch you, because I'm _your_ mistress and you're under _my_ command, which means _I_ can do whatever I want with you." Artemis said, whirling around with a huff and walking out the door.

The hunters giggled before following their mistress.

"Well, _someone's_ possessive." Hestia whispered with amusement, standing up on her tiptoes and shyly giving Percy a kiss on his cheek. "Good luck Perseus." She said. Then she burst into flames and disappeared.

Percy grinned as he followed Artemis out of the door. He really liked Hestia, although in a completely different way compared to how he felt about Artemis.

"So, does that mean I get a kiss too?" Aphrodite said as she wrapped her arms around Percy from behind him.

"Aphrodite, can you just please leave me alone for a bit?" Percy grumbled.

"Fine. But I'll be back." Aphrodite pouted before disappearing in a huge puff of perfume. Percy choked and gagged while Piper laughed.

"Lady Artemis! Lord Dionysus, what was happening? I found the entire Big House closed when I came here." Chiron exclaimed when they exited the Big House.

"Well pony man, follow me, I'll tell you everything." Dionysus said cheerfully. Apparently, he was still happy about his party, which explained his smile.

"Yes, I will, but I need to make an announcement. Everyone is waiting in the pavilion." Chiron said.

"What announcement?" Percy asked, but Chiron had already galloped off. Percy turned to the campers, who returned the look with shrugs.

"Let's go see, shall we? I love announcements!" Leo said excitedly, skipping off.

"Go ahead girls, I already know what announcement it will be. You too Perseus, off you go. I need to do my duties." Artemis said before disappearing in a burst of silver light.

"You heard her, let's go sisters." Percy said. "Race you all there?"

The hunters didn't even respond, just sprinted right off, laughing as they left Percy in the dust. Percy chuckled and shook his head.

"So unfair." He muttered. Instead, he shot into the air, relishing the feel of the air rushing past his ears at high speed as he flew the short distance to the pavilion. He landed quietly beside the Hunters and the Campers, who were standing at the edge of the crowd.

Chiron stood on a podium and pounded his hoof against the ground to silence everyone.

"As you all know, now that Lord Dionysus's party is over, we can look forward to our next big event! Capture the Flag, which is the day after tomorrow!" Chiron roared.

The campers cheered wildly before Chiron raised his hand for silence.

"Since the Hunters are currently at camp, it will be campers against the Hunters. The Immortal Campers will obviously join the camper's side, while Lady Artemis has agreed not to join the fight, seeing as it would upset the balance. She will be watching however." Chiron said.

The campers cheered again, positive that they would win. Many of them began throwing sly and self-assured glances at the Hunters, who responded with glares. Chiron stomped his hoof again for silence though.

"However, Percy Jackson _will_ be fighting for the Hunters." Chiron announced.

This time, the only sound was the Hunters laughter as all the campers shifted uneasily and began whispering amongst themselves. They all stared at Percy fearfully and were no longer so confident. Percy smirked as he slung an arm around Thalia and Phoebe.

"That is all I have to say. Good night and hard training tomorrow!" Chiron announced before stepping down.

All the campers quickly dispersed, while Percy turned to his immortal friends.

"You guys all ready for the day after tomorrow?" Percy asked cheekily.

"You bet. The last time, you took us by surprise. We'll be ready for you this time." Jason boasted.

"Good. I would hate it if our battle only lasted seconds instead of minutes." Percy said.

"Haha, very funny. Good night Percy." Frank said, clapping him on the shoulder. Hazel grinned and gave him a hug before walking off with Frank.

Percy gave the others a nod before heading towards the Artemis cabin with his little sisters.

"Wait, Thalia, hold up a second!" Jason called after them.

Thalia stopped and turned around. "What's the matter, little brother?"

Jason pouted. "I'm not your little brother. I'm bigger than you are."

"But you're younger than I am by a lot. So what is it?" Thalia asked.

"Well, it's just that um, why do you seem… I don't know, different? All of you Hunters. Something really different, you all seem more vibrant or something like that." Jason said uncertainly.

Thalia cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"I know what he means." Piper said, walking over and surveying the Hunters. "He's probably afraid to say it because you all will rip him apart, but each of you seem more beautiful than before. And your silvery aura is stronger."

The Hunters looked at each other with questioning looks and shrugged, unsure what to say. Percy however, knew exactly what Jason and Piper were talking about. Each of the Hunters now glowed with a powerful, silvery light, instead of a faint silver aura. Each of them also looked as if they had just walked out of a fresh and hot bath, instead of a life-threatening battle with many monsters. It was easier for Percy to notice on Thalia, since he had known Thalia for years. Thalia's raven-black hair was now lush, silky and thick; instead of the usual messiness and spikiness that was reminiscence of Percy's hair while her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with a higher intensity than Percy was used to seeing.

"Percy, do we really look any different?" Thalia said, turning around so Percy could easily see her. The other hunters also turned around so Percy could examine them. Even though Percy already had.

"Well, besides the fact that your formal clothes don't look so formal, not really." Percy said, feeling guilty that he had to lie a bit.

Jason shrugged. "Alright. Just thought I'd mention it, because I thought there was something different. Anyways, good night Sis."

"Good night little brother." Thalia said, giving Jason a hug.

Percy and the Hunters walked back to their cabin, which Percy hesitated slightly.

"Come on Percy, you're completely welcome to come in. We saved you a bunk too!" Sarah said. A cheerful and happy-go-lucky Hunter, she got along well with almost everyone.

"Yeah I know, thanks." Percy said, smiling a bit as he gingerly sat on his bunk. "So, are all you girls ready for Capture the Flag?"

"Of course! No one can beat us, especially since The Trio is right here." Alex said proudly, slinging an arm around Christy and Elizabeth.

"Good. Then get ready for some serious training tomorrow." Percy said, standing up and peeling Artemis's ripped shirt off and searching under his bunk for his own shirt.

"Serious? Come on, we aren't _that_ bad, are we?" Angeline whined. An excellent tracker, she was one of the better knife fighters in the Hunt, although she preferred the use of trickery and deception to take down her enemies, including some very sneaky feints.

"Well, each of you could easily take on 15 or 20 of those lousy campers, but don't forget, the numbers are against us. And all of you continue to use your bows and then drop them to use knives, you'll lose. And vice versa. Each of you _must_ learn how to dual wield weapons." Percy said, rummaging through his clothes for a plain, sea green, shirt that he couldn't seem to find.

"Dual Wield? How are we supposed to dual wield a melee weapon with a bow?" Angeline asked.

"Well, you can't, not really. But there are some melee tricks I will teach you using a bow. But besides that, I need to teach you how to dual wield throwing knives with daggers and swords. Also dual wielding with chains. That way, you have melee and ranged bases covered." Percy explained. "Aha, here it is."

Percy yanked out his sea green shirt and grinned. He had finally found it. He was about to put it on when Alex stopped him.

"Wait Percy, before you put that shirt on, um, how do you slide those gigantic wings of yours inside your body?" Alex asked.

Percy froze. That was a question he had never thought about.

"Um, I don't know? I just slide them in and out?" Percy answered uncertainly.

"Well, can you let us see? I think I speak for all of us when I say that we have always been interested." Alex asked rather shyly.

"Yeah, and I'm sure our healer Sasha would like to create theories on how my wings fit inside by back, right?" Percy asked, smirking at Sasha, who blushed. She, along with Phoebe, were some of the Hunts best healers. She was always a brainy type, and an excellent healer, which was to be expected, since her father was Apollo. Although thankfully, she hadn't inherited his father's brains.

"Please?" Alex asked, trying to make her eyes as wide as possible.

"Puppy face doesn't work. Aphrodite tried it, and it failed. But since it's with you girls, fine." Percy said, relenting after several of his sisters joined in doing the "puppy dog" face. He sat cross-legged on the bunk with his back facing the Hunters. "Have fun."

All of the Hunters, including Thalia, instantly clamored over and began examining his back.

"Wow, I can barely see the slits in your back Percy! Can you extend your wings just a little bit?" Sasha asked excitedly.

Percy rolled his eyes but obliged, extending his wings just a bit.

"Holy Styx, that's amazing! And kind of creepy! Your wings are folded upon itself, and if you try to see through your slits in your back, you just see the wings coming out of your back! That's amazing!" Sasha exclaimed, fascination evident in her voice. The other hunters were quick to agree.

"You girls done yet?" Percy asked.

"No. Can you slide your wings out, slowly? So I can see?" Sasha asked.

"Fine." Percy sighed.

He slowly slid the wings out to their full length, the Hunters watching with sick fascination as they moved out of his wings way.

"Wow. Your wings are amazing Percy, I just love how it comes out all folded and slowly unfolds itself. Slide them back in, fast as you can?" Sasha asked.

Percy nodded wearily. He snapped his wings back in as fast as he could, grinning as the Hunters jumped slightly when his wings slid back in with a _schnnk!_ Sound.

"Bloody damn. I'm jealous Percy." Thalia said, running her fingers over his wing slits.

Percy arched his back and giggled at her touch. Thalia frowned.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I'm t-ticklish there, so stop!" Percy squealed as Thalia continued to run her fingers over the slits.

Thalia stopped and snuck a sly glance at her fellow Hunters. She raised an eyebrow, which they returned with sly smiles. Angeline raised a hand with three fingers raised. Then two. Then one.

"TICKLE ATTACK!" Thalia screamed, pouncing on top of Percy and furiously tickling Percy's wing slits.

Percy screamed as everyone else instantly jumped on top of Percy, squeezing him against his bunk as the weight of several girls on his back crushed him down. He tried to thrash around, unable to stop laughing as the Hunters continued to tickle him all over the place. He tried to tell them to stop, but of course, they didn't listen. He was laughing so hard now that his stomach muscles were beginning to ache, and he began to vaguely wondering when he was going to get the cramps when a voice cut clean through the air.

"Hunters! What are you girls _doing?_ " Artemis's clear voice hit straight to them.

Everyone instantly froze, although Percy let out a grateful sigh and rolled off his bunk, flopping face first onto the ground.

"Good timing, my lady. I was just about to explode from laughter and all that tickling my sisters were giving me." Percy groaned.

"Tickling? Well, you don't exactly have to show off your muscles in a tickling fight, do you?" Artemis asked, sauntering over.

"They wanted to see my wing slits. I'm ticklish there. And Thalia being the mean sister she is, starts attacking." Percy grumbled, slowly beginning to raise himself up.

"You're ticklish there?" Artemis asked, stopping right next to him.

"Yeah, why?" Percy asked, turning his head around.

Artemis gave him a cheeky smile. Then she leaned down and scratched him exactly where Thalia had. Percy giggled again as he flopped to the floor, even though this time he had a fuzzy sensation wash over him as Artemis's fingers danced over his back. Artemis chuckled.

"You know what girls? Continue. When I come back from my room, then we'll talk a bit." Artemis said, chortling as she walked into her own room.

Percy stared at his sisters with a horrified expression.

"Uh oh…" He muttered, just as they all leapt on top of him.

Again.

Artemis refreshed herself and walked out of her room into the main cabin to find Thalia, Angeline and Tracy sitting on top of an exhausted and shirtless Percy. The other Hunters sat in a circle, laughing like crazy.

"Sooo Percy, you still up to teaching us, what do you call it, dual wielding?" Angeline asked, smirking.

"Yes. Even if it kills me, I'm going to teach you girls how to dual wield weapons." Percy groaned. His stomach and back _hurt._

"Girls, get off him. That's not how you treat your own brother." Artemis said.

"Yeah, see, Artemis sides with me too, Thals." Percy gasped out.

"Awww, c'mon my lady, we were just having fun. It's called _family_." Thalia said cheekily.

Artemis just raised an eyebrow in response.

"Oh alright."Thalia whined, tickling Percy once last time before she got up, along with Angeline and Tracy, to join the circle of Hunters.

"Thank you Lady Artemis, I was getting quite-" Percy said but stopped as Artemis put her foot on his back.

"Oh, don't thank me so soon, Perseus." Artemis said, smirking.

She pushed down with her foot, forcing Percy to lie face down on the floor before she moved her foot back and promptly sat on him.

Percy gave an oomph of surprise while the Hunters stared in shock. Artemis grinned before giving Thalia a sly look.

"You know Thalia, I think I understand what you mean now. He's quite a comfortable thing to sit on." Artemis said cheerfully.

"Y-yes, my lady." Thalia stuttered out, still shocked that Artemis was actually sitting on Percy.

She decided not to tell Artemis that she had sat on Percy's head, not his back. There was no need to see Artemis sitting on Percy's head, even if his face was on the floor. At least Percy wasn't facing the ceiling. Thalia held back a shudder. While she wanted –and her comrades wanted- Percy with Artemis, she wasn't quite ready to picture Percy and her lady in that position. Yet.

"Uggghhhh. So I'm a 'thing' now? What, not even a rug, or a floor mat?" Percy groaned sarcastically. He thanked the Fates that he was facing the ground, or he'd never be able to hide his burning red face.

"Yes, you are a 'thing'. You are also my Guardian, which is why I'm sitting on you, because chairs can break and cause injuries." Artemis said, smiling.

"Oh, and my back can't break?" Percy grumbled in response.

"Of course your back can break. But I've seen you fly into a mountain, and walk out relatively unscathed." Artemis shot back swiftly.

"That's because I had a water cushion around me to take out most of the shock." Percy said.

"Ohhh, so you're saying that you're too weak to even hold my weight?" Artemis said, smirking as she waited for an answer. No answer was forthcoming. Artemis's smirk turned into a triumphant grin. "Just as I thought."

She chuckled as Percy groaned and the Hunters laughed. "Now what was this talk about dual wielding?"

"I was telling my sisters that they must learn how to dual wield daggers or swords with throwing knives and chains." Percy gasped out.

"Hmmm, yes, that is a good idea. But a complicated skill. Why are you pushing them to learn now?" Artemis asked.

"Because I want them to be able to use the skills against the campers on Capture the Flag. The Apollo campers may not be as good archers as your Hunters, but they are still good. With dual wielding, if one of us were to fight a camper in melee combat and see an Apollo camper aiming at us, we could hold off the camper with a dagger and throw a knife at the camper, all at the same time."Percy said.

"I personally believe it is a much faster and safer method than dropping your melee weapon and picking your bow up." Percy concluded.

Artemis nodded slowly. "Yes. I agree actually, I think it's a good idea. Styx, I wonder why I didn't try to teach them this myself!" Artemis said, surprised that she hadn't thought of this before.

"There. See Pinecone Face? Told ya Lady Artemis would agree." Percy said, looking at Thalia the best he could from his awkward viewpoint.

"Fine, fine. But my lady, what aren't you joining us in Capture the Flag?" Thalia asked.

Artemis shrugged. "I didn't feel like it. Besides, it would rob Percy of his sweet revenge that he wants to get on the campers." Artemis said.

A collective 'oooohhhh' came as the Hunters nodded.

"But don't worry, I'll watch. Also, I will certainly help you design the defenses in the flag. Just because I won't be participating doesn't mean that I won't be putting out traps and such." Artemis said.

A small cheer came from the Hunters as they heard the news. Artemis smiled slightly, knowing they wouldn't like the next bit.

"However, I _do_ expect you all to win, so I am now officially giving Percy full permission to train you as hard as he wishes tomorrow." Artemis said.

This time, a collective groan came as the Hunter's shoulders slumped.

Artemis smiled and turned down to look at Percy. "What do you say to that, Perseus?"

"Well, I'd laugh, but right now, I'm getting squished. By a 13 year old girl." Percy grumbled.

Artemis glared at him and smacked his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Percy yelped.

"You're supposed to say 'Thank You', and maybe then I would've gotten off. And when you say that you're getting "squished", are you indicating I'm fat?" Artemis asked slyly, beginning to increase the pressure on Percy's back by slowly lifting the majority of her weight from her feet.

"OK, I'm sorry m'lady, and thank you for your permission. Now can you _please_ get off my back? I swear that my spine is going to snap." Percy gasped out.

"Hmmm, that's good enough for the first part… but what about the last question?" Artemis said with the same slyness, continuing to increase the pressure as the Hunters fought to contain their mirth.

"The last…question?" Percy gasped. He was beginning to feel the pressure increase sharply now, and it was very discomforting.

"The "Am I fat" question, Perseus." Artemis said with slight amusement. She lifted her legs off the floor, concentrating all her weight on Percy's back and began to apply some overall pressure with her godly powers.

"What…?N-nn-o, of-of course you…aren't…fat, my lady." Percy gasped out, struggling to talk as Artemis increased the pressure on his entire body.

"And?" Artemis prompted, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I merely meant… squished… in the…virtual sense…not literal." Percy added hastily.

"Good. Now that wasn't so hard, was it Perseus?" Artemis said, a big smile on her face now as she instantly stood up and lifted the pressure. Percy gave a sigh of relief.

"No it wasn't. Now can I go do my Guardian duty, or is there something else you want me to do, Arrrty." Percy said as he got to his feet, stretching the last word, partly because he loved the name, and partly because he knew it'd annoy Artemis.

It did. She glared at him. "Listen, 'Arty' is bad enough, but stretching it out? Watch it before I seal your mouth shut."Artemis snapped.

"So that means I can call you 'Arty' now?" Percy asked cheekily as he shrugged on his shirt.

Artemis walked over, grabbed him by the ear, ignored his yelps and tossed him onto his bunk.

"Just go to sleep. You'll need the energy tomorrow to teach my hunters a new skill. Especially if you want to teach all of them." Artemis grumbled.

"Whatever you say, Arty." Percy crooned.

Artemis couldn't help but blush at Percy's words. So instead of offering a response or even glaring at Percy, she quickly walked into her own room before anyone could spot her blush.

"Well, good night sisters." Percy called out as the Hunters began crawling into bed.

"Good night." They mumbled back.

Percy gave a groan as he settled himself down and rubbed his ear. He just loved Artemis's temperament. It was just so…endearing. And yet, there were times it wasn't quite so endearing. Such as later that morning when Artemis woke him up at around three, giving him only three hours of sleep.

"Perseus! Percy!" Artemis's voice hissed right next to his ear.

Percy blearily opened his eyes to see Artemis standing over him. He instantly woke up and shot upright.

"What is it, my lady?" Percy asked quietly.

"Well, I keep on feeling this immortal presence. Like the amount of immortals have increased sharply. And also, I couldn't sleep. I have too much energy, which is odd, because after Typhon and the Giants, we gods are actually very weak right now." Artemis explained.

Percy tensed slightly. He knew exactly where the sharp rise of immortals had come from. And Artemis having too much energy… He looked up and saw Artemis's silver eyes, glowing in the dark. They shone with a powerful intensity, and in the darkness Percy could see that her form flickered silver, as if it were yearning to burst into her true immortal form. He briefly considered telling her the truth, before deciding against it, since Artemis would probably throw him against the wall, and he didn't want to hurt his sisters.

"I suppose your senses are reacting to Hyperion and Krios? I don't know, I don't really feel anything. And what do you mean weak; you wore me out in our last fight like no other." Percy said.

"Ha, you think that you have endurance? You're a boy, that's why you got worn down." Artemis scoffed, even though she knew that Percy's endurance was impressive, and his skill with a blade was near unmatched. She herself had gotten worn out during her battle with Perseus.

"Oh really? Well then, how come I could beat you? If I remember correctly, you didn't even have enough energy to pull my legs out from under me."Percy mocked, a challenging glint in his eyes as he stared at Artemis.

Artemis struggled to find a comeback, before settling for a smack on the arm. Percy gave a quiet yelp as he rubbed the spot where Artemis had hit him.

"What was that for?" Percy asked quietly.

"Nothing. Now, I woke you up because I wanted you to do a scan of the surrounding area. I'm pretty sure there is nothing out there, but a second opinion wouldn't hurt. Also, you have being a Son of Poseidon, you have a knack for finding things that others may not be able to see." Artemis said, a plan on getting revenge for mocking her already forming in his mind.

Percy nodded and got up without complaint. If it were anyone else, he'd complain or procrastinate, but for Artemis, he'd do anything.

"As you wish, my lady. Is there anything else my lady commands?" Percy asked formally.

"No. Report back when you're done, and if I have something else, I'll tell you." Artemis said.

Percy nodded and did his special bow. He quietly opened the door and flew to the top of a tree. Perching himself comfortably on a branch, he closed his eyes and sent his senses out, scouring for anything. The first thing that yelled back at him were the Hunters, thanks to their new immortality. The second was obviously Artemis. Other than that, he could feel nothing else that was particularly powerful or dangerous. He was about to get off the tree and report to Artemis when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and an incredibly soft body pressed tight against him.

"Good morning, Percy." Aphrodite greeted in a breathless whisper.

"Aphrodite, what are you doing here?" Percy asked, attempting to shrug of Aphrodite's arms, but her grip was surprisingly strong.

"Oh, you do realize that it's completely useless to fight against a god? You may be strong, but with my godly powers, I'm stronger." Aphrodite said, smiling triumphantly as she gripped Percy even harder.

"Well, do please forgive my rudeness." Percy said, a slight smirk on his face.

"Oh? If you want to take me on a tree, sure, it's new but no problem." Aphrodite said, pulling Percy hard against her.

Percy grinned and transformed into liquid form. With lightning speed, he slid right out of Aphrodite's grasp and shot down the tree, taking especial pleasure at Aphrodite's shriek of surprise and dismay. He quickly shot towards Artemis's cabin.

"I cannot sense anything different or powerful or any danger around here, my lady." Percy said, reforming himself at the entrance.

"Hmmm. I _know_ something is different. Well, perhaps all we can do is wait. Now," Artemis said. She snapped her fingers, and the next thing Percy knew, he was standing in the duel arena with Artemis standing in front of him, her bow already out.

"The reason why you could _barely_ beat me was because I used my knives and I hardly used any of my abilities. I'm here to show you just _how bad your endurance is._ " Artemis said evilly, her eyes glinting. "Now get your swords out, and remember, I won't be responsible for any bruises on your body."

 _Uh-oh._ Percy thought as he drew Riptide out. He had just raised them into the 'ready' position when Artemis shot towards him in a falcon form, too fast to see. Just as she was about to hit Percy, she changed back into human form with her feet first. Her feet slammed into Percy's chest, lifting him off the ground to crash back against the ground. He instinctively rolled, which was a good thing, since a flurry of arrows landed a scant half-second later at where he had just been.

Percy leapt to his feet, only to see a cloud of silver arrows come right at him. He shot his wing out to cover himself and the arrows bounced off relatively harmlessly, although the force of which it was fired knocked him backwards. Artemis took the chance to jump in and do some physical damage, sweeping Percy's feet from underneath him and picking him to spin him around several dozen times. Then she tossed him into the air and performed Percy's own aerial strike against him.

Percy crashed against the ground hard enough to create a small crater, and he had barely regained his senses when his back was bombarded by a shower of blunt-tipped arrows. He desperately turned into his liquid form and shot off in a random direction, only attempting to get away and coordinate himself.

Of course, Artemis had her own ideas.

Percy had just shot off when Artemis shot a volley of arrows, surrounding Percy in a perfect circle of silver arrows. She snapped her fingers, causing the arrows to burst into silver flames. Percy froze for an instant before he just barreled straight through the flames, unhurt thanks to Hestia's blessing. Artemis grinned and shot volley after volley of arrows at the liquid-Percy, forcing him to dodge from side to side and run all over the place, knowing that making him run around in liquid form tired him greatly.

Exhausted from running around non-stop at top speed in liquid form for almost an hour, Percy stopped and slowly reformed back into his human form and lay on the ground, gasping. His muscles felt as if they were on fire and he was dead tired. Artemis, on the other hand, was cheerful and full of energy.

"C'mon Percy, you've just been running and dodging. Where's the sword skills that you are so famous for?" Artemis taunted as she slowly sauntered over to where Percy lay on the ground.

Percy groaned as he got to his feet. "Yeah? What else do you have?" Percy asked, pulling out both Riptides.

"Well then, let's see how strong your wrists are." Artemis said, jumping backwards while drawing her bow back and launching a volley of arrows at Percy.

Percy easily fended the arrows off with a simple slash. Artemis smiled slightly. Percy hadn't even seen how fast she could fire her arrows. However, it _would_ need concentration and lots of energy. She took a breath and launched another volley, following it with another and another. Percy began swinging his sword in a circle, creating a shield against the arrows as they were cut into shreds by his blades. Artemis calmly increased her speed by increments, and began to slowly walk in a circle around him, continuously firing volley after volley of arrows at him.

Percy had considered himself good at deflecting arrows, since he had had plenty of practice when he and the Hunters had been on bad terms, but even all of them at once were nothing compared to Artemis. Even with two swords swinging at top speed, he could barely, just barely, deflect them. Added to the fact that he had to constantly turn around in a circle and the fact that he was getting really tired, he knew that this wouldn't end well. For him at least.

Artemis was smirking slightly. She was having the time of her life, just shooting arrows with pinpoint accuracy and at top speed, knowing that she wouldn't have to replace the target every minute because they were too loaded with arrows. And with Percy, she also had the intense pleasure of just beating him up. She had to admit though, Percy lasted quite a bit longer than she expected. But she could also clearly see that Percy was tiring, and she wasn't even firing at full capacity yet. She briefly debated whether to increase her speed or let Percy tired himself out before deciding on the former, just to prove that his endurance sucked.

They continued the standstill for only five more minutes before Percy couldn't take it anymore and toppled forward, so tired that he didn't even notice that he had landed in a massive pile of wood chips. Artemis had been firing so fast that another 200 hundred arrows thudded onto Percy's back even though Artemis had already stopped shooting. She walked over slowly, a warm feeling rushing through her as she flipped Percy over.

"Soooo, who beat who now, hmm?" Artemis said, gently putting her foot onto Percy's chest.

Percy groaned in response.

"Now get up, I have a question to ask you." Artemis said cheerfully. For some strange reason, she didn't feel tired at all. Usually, that type of shooting and concentration strained her energies, but she felt great. She vaguely wondered whether it had anything to do with the increase in power she had felt in the Hunters.

"You only beat me because you were using archery. If it were swords and daggers, we would probably end in a stalemate." Percy mumbled, groaning as he got to his feet.

"Perhaps. But life is never what you want it to be, Perseus. You of all people should know that." Artemis said calmly.

"I know, I know." Percy whined. "So what did you want to ask me?"

"Well, how do you propose to teach my hunters how to dual wield if we don't have any throwing knives?" Artemis asked.

Percy froze. He hadn't thought about. He began thinking, and another plan formed in his mind. It would be perfect for training, and it would be beneficial for the Hunters. He grinned.

"You know, I have an idea… permission to leave for a while, my lady?" Percy asked.

Artemis smiled. "Permission granted."

Percy did his special bow before jumping into the air, rocketing into the air with a flap of his wings before he felt the ache of his muscles and fell, in a most embarrassing way. He groaned again as the ache of his muscles preventing him from getting up and flying off again. He heard a crystal clear, sparkling laugh that could only belong to Artemis, and a instant later, she was at his side.

"Do you, perhaps, need help, Perseus?" Artemis asked, her silvery eyes dancing with amusement.

"Yes please. Can you get me up to Olympus?" Percy grumbled, staggering to his feet.

"Well, at least you aren't lacking in manners." Artemis said, giving Percy a rare compliment before she snapped her fingers, sending Percy to Olympus.

An instant later, Percy felt his feet slam onto solid ground and he looked around, noticing that right behind him was Aphrodite's palace. His eyes widened and he scampered, searching for a palace with machines and automatons around it. He found it an instant later, and unlike the other palaces that looked as if they were closed, this one looked like it was at the peak of its working hours. Flames burned around the entire palace, and the palace seemed to be moving a lot more than Percy had last seen.

Percy hesitantly walked up to the door of Hephaestus's palace, wary of any automatons. He raised his hand and tentatively knocked on the door. For a second, nothing happened. Then a deep boom echoed from within and the top of the door began to peel back slightly, bits of metal magically sliding within another until a small, window-like square appeared. A automatons head appeared and spoke.

"Who are you and what do you want?" It asked in a metallic voice.

"Percy Jackson, and I merely wish to ask Lord Hephaestus for some help." Percy stated simply.

Almost instantly, the door completely slid back into itself and the automaton beckoned. Percy nervously stepped inside and followed the automaton. As he walked, he couldn't help but wonder how the heck Hephaestus managed to live inside this palace. It was creepyish, with all the burning fires and the constant thudding of machinery in the distance. To Percy, it reminded him of the haunted houses that he had never went in to, although he was pretty sure that Nico would probably think this place as "calm and comfortable", since he was a Son of Hades. An instant later, they reached another large door that magically swung open at their approach. The automaton stopped and motioned Percy forward. Percy nodded his thanks and stepped in.

The room strongly reminded Percy of the forge that he had visited in the Labyrinth. Except this time, instead of a Toyota Corolla, it was a huge Honda Odyssey minivan. He vaguely recognized the machine that Leo had shown him once in a model, the machine that Hephaestus had used to contact Leo in his dreams. Right now, he was pretty sure he could see Leo's face on the machine, meaning that Hephaestus was watching him.

"So Perseus, what do you want?" Hephaestus boomed, stepping out from behind the Honda.

"Well Lord Hephaestus, I've come here with a couple favours to ask, and I hope it's not too big. First of all, could make maybe a dozen automatons, like the ones you made for the Amazons? I would like to train the Hunters with them. They're _extremely_ useful and well built." Percy asked, carefully watching Hephaestus's expression.

Hephaestus gave a grunt and a nod, accompanied by a hand motion that meant 'go on'.

Percy swallowed nervously, since his next request was rather large.

You know how you always supply the Hunters with arrows and such on a regular basis? I was wondering whether you'd be able to add throwing knives to the list. They're very useful and powerful if used correctly, and having a ready supply of them would aid the Hunters a _lot._ " Percy said as respectfully as he could.

"Hmmm, and with throwing knives, you'd like to add sheathes, eh?" Hephaestus asked, a light glinting in his eyes.

"Erm, yes." Percy squeaked, surprised that Hephaestus already knew what he was going to ask.

"Well, even though I know you aren't purposely doing it, but you _have_ managed to pull Aphrodite off from Ares, I suppose I'll grant your wishes. If only she paid that much attention to _me._ " Hephaestus grumbled under his breath.

Percy stayed silent, although his mind was processing what Hephaestus had muttered. He may appear not to care, but Hephaestus really was hurt that Aphrodite didn't like him. And to constantly see your wife, even if they had mutual feelings about each other, go out with many men, it hurt. And Percy had felt broken when Annabeth had left him, he couldn't imagine how it would feel to be in Hephaestus's place. He began to understand why Hephaestus liked machines, and felt sorry for him.

As he thought, an idea struck him. What if married gods and goddess could- but no, that would require Zeus's approval, and he was in no place to request such a large change. Percy would keep it in his mind, however, and if an opportunity presented itself, he would seize it. His plan also had the benefit of getting Aphrodite off his back.

"What design of sheathes?"

"Um, like mine? Three sheathes over each shoulder, and then a belt like mine also, where the knives are positioned at a 45 degrees angle at the waist?" Percy suggested, indicating his own knife belt and sheathes.

"A good idea. Chaos's design is impressive, and how your belt manages to replenish all of its knives in an hour amazes and intrigues me…" Hephaestus said, staring at Percy's knife belt. He shook himself and stood up, going to a table. "And a silvery design obviously…" He muttered under his breath. He turned to Percy. "Alright then, I've got it, they will appear in the armory tent in a couple hours."

Percy bowed. "Thank you very much, Lord Hephaestus." He said with heartfelt gratitude.

Percy turned and walked out the door, but Hephaestus stopped him.

"Oh, and I suppose I should warn you. My wife very recently came in here to ask me for some chains, magical and inescapable ones. I suggest that the instant you are out of here, you fly and run as fast as possible." Hephaestus said.

Percy paled as he heard the word 'chains'. He bowed again before walking off. Surprisingly, after only walking a couple feet, he saw the door. He assumed that it had moved, either on its own, or for his convenience. Keeping Hephaestus's warning in mind, he gingerly opened the door and stepped out. Carefully scanning the surroundings, he extended his wings and jumped into the air. Unfortunately, now that his muscles had had some time to rest, he could feel the soreness strongly. After a painful flap, he crashed to the ground. Again.

Percy groaned as he got to his feet. He _really_ shouldn't have tried to outrun Artemis's arrows in liquid form. He ached all over the place, and he felt as if he had just learned how to move and run in liquid form. He had just got to his feet however, when he heard a rustle. He whirled around and barely caught a glimpse of a voluptuous body when he heard a loud _clang_ and he felt a sharp pain in his head before he sank into darkness.

When Percy regained consciousness, he found himself in a pink room. With a huge bed in front of him, and a frying pan. Percy frowned at the frying pan, trying to make sense on what a frying pan was doing in Aphrodite's palace before he figured out that Aphrodite had probably used it to knock him out. He took a step forward. Or at least tried to. But he was stuck.

He looked down and his eyes widened. He was bound in celestial bronze chains that glowed with power. And from what he could feel and tell, he was chained to a wall, with his hands bound to his side and feet stuck together. He desperately yanked at the chains, but they barely shifted. He then tried turning into liquid form, but as Hephaestus had warned him, they were inescapable.

Percy growled and concentrated on heating the chains up, attempting to melt them. It was a very neat and cool ability that Hestia had taught him, when the Hunters had chained him to a tree and left him there, covered in sweet and sticky sauces to attract insects. It was also extremely useful when fighting an opponent, since being able to heat the opponent's sword up to unbearable temperatures caused him to drop his weapon. He could also use it to start a fire on wooden objects just by looking and concentrating on them.

Unfortunately for Percy, although the chains heated up and shook slightly, they stayed as firm as ever.

"Don't worry Percy, I know you're _aching_ to see me. And _for_ me. I'll be down soon." Aphrodite's singsong voice resonated through the palace.

 _Oh shit, oh shit._ Percy thought desperately. If Percy had the strength, he would've tried to rip the chains off the wall, since most of the time, unbreakable chains didn't mean an unbreakable anchor. But his muscles hurt too much from his "endurance test" with Artemis, and from what he could, his chains were bolted onto a wall that had a gleam only metal could give off. He was about to try and establish a psychic connection with Hestia or Poseidon when he heard the loud sounds of high heels on a staircase. Percy paled as Aphrodite stepped into his view, smirking.

She was wearing a gorgeous satin red dress that hugged her every curve, and she was literally shining and glowing with beauty. Aphrodite stepped right in front of Percy and struck a pose.

"So, what do you think Perseus? Good enough for you?" Aphrodite asked in a sultry voice, slowly advancing on Percy.

Percy gulped nervously as she drew closer. "Just let me go, will you? I have my duties to do. And you of all people should know that I don't like your…type." Percy said.

"Oh, come now Percy, you may have changed a lot, but I _definitely_ know that you haven't lost your capacity for _love._ " Aphrodite said, slowly sliding a finger up Percy's neck and to his chin.

"What do you mean, 'I've changed'?" Percy asked, jerking his head away from Aphrodite's finger.

Aphrodite gave a throaty chuckle as she slowly cupped Percy's face with her hand.

"Well, I remember when I first met you, you were a foolish but brave and courageous little boy. After you defeated Kronos, you were braver, handsome, more skillful but still foolish and, occasionally, dumb. Over the course of the Giant War, after you met the Romans, you became more serious, but you still retained your foolishness. Definitely more skilled, and _much_ more handsome." Aphrodite said, leaning in to Percy's face while the latter attempted to jerk his head away.

" _Now,_ you are so godly that I wonder why Zeus didn't make you a god. You are every bit as worthy of an Olympian, because you have godly looks, godly skills, a godly _fabulous_ body, godly powers and you even have split personalities like us gods." Aphrodite whispered, drawing ever closer to Percy's lips.

He attempted to avoid it by tilting his head up toward the ceiling, but Aphrodite, being a goddess, merely grew a couple inches taller.

"Even better." Aphrodite whispered huskily as she leaned down, her hand resting on Percy's neck. Percy's eyes widened in horror.

"What do you mean I'm split personality. I'm a part immortal demigod." Percy gasped out, desperate for anything that would slow down Aphrodite. Mentally, he was frantically trying to call to Hestia.

 _My Patron! Lady Hestia! I need HELP! Aphrodite's got me trapped with Hephaestus's chains!_ Percy thought desperately and as hard as he could. Unfortunately, if Hestia had heard, she gave no answer.

"Like I said, you've changed. Now you have two sides. One is the original Percy Jackson, kind, polite, brave, courageous, sometimes foolish and loyal to a fault personality. The other Percy Jackson is… darker. Still brave, courageous, definitely not kind or polite, and you've become slightly, how do I say it, sadistic, perhaps? Even cruel. To your enemies that is, to your friends and loved ones you are as kind, polite and loyal as ever." Aphrodite said, momentarily stopping her advancement on Percy's face. "Which I find _extremely_ endearing."

"Um, sadistic? What does that mean?" Percy asked, for once asking a real question instead of trying to stall for time. Aphrodite smiled sweetly.

"It means you derive pleasure from seeing your enemies suffering in pain." Aphrodite said, her face now less than an inch away from Percy.

"What do you mean? I don't get pleasure from watching people suffering." Percy said indignantly.

"Maybe… but what about Triton? Matthew? Did you have to kill that camper at Camp Jupiter so nastily?You even showed your dark side when you let your mother turn that nasty man into a stone statue. And what about that "policeman"?" Aphrodite asked throatily.

"Triton and Matthew were different. They ruined my life. And Octavian insulted all of us, he wouldn't stop trying to kill us all by saying that I was wrong about the Greeks and that I was corrupting the 't even get me started on Gabe. He's worse than anyone I've ever met. And that policeman, well, that was Ares!" Percy said defensively.

"How did you know that the policeman was Ares?" Aphrodite asked, stopping her advancement on Percy's face for a moment.

"Well, I _was_ listening and following the Hunt when Artemis summoned you all. _And_ you just confirmed." Percy said, glaring at her. "Why the hell did you tell Ares to do that anyway?"

"Oh well, you see, I was trying to _help_ you like I promised. I had hoped that Artemis would pick up on your jealousy and see your feelings. Unfortunately, she didn't see it… Not really." Aphrodite said with mock sadness, pouting slightly. "But that doesn't change anything. At that time, you thought the policeman was just a policeman, you didn't know he was Ares. _And_ you trashed him oh so badly."

Percy blushed. "Well, _no one_ should touch Artemis like that. That was _completely_ disrespectful." Percy snarled.

"Exactly. Now, you are colder and darker. When you feel like it. That is why I said that you have two sides to yourself, _just_ like a god. And if you think about it, Triton and Matthew led you to new lives. Better ones. Without them, you would never have fallen in love with your dear Arty, or get on such good terms with the Hunters." Aphrodite said.

Percy blushedagain at his nickname for Artemis. "Yeah, but you said you'd help me. And right now, you're going to destroy my relationship with Artemis." Percy said, struggling to find a way to postpone Aphrodite.

"Well, I'm very sorry, but this is just _too good to pass up._ " Aphrodite whispered, swooping down to kiss Percy on the lips.

At the last moment, Percy jerked his head sideways, so that Aphrodite's luscious lips crashed onto his cheek. Percy grimaced while Aphrodite smiled.

"Not bad. But you'll never get away from here until I let you." Aphrodite whispered, her right hand coming up to hold Percy's head in place while her left hand began to creep lower down Percy's body. Keeping a firm grip on Percy's face, she turned his face towards hers.

"Now _this_ is more like it." Aphrodite said, coming down again to kiss Percy.

Percy tried as hard as he could to turn his head sideways, but Aphrodite's hand had become impossibly strong, keeping his face right where it was as firmly as one of the Hunter's traps kept him locked up. Aphrodite kissed him with a deep pleasure while Percy gave a hoarse scream, struggling useless against the chains and her grip. She had just pressed her entire body up to him and her hand was just creeping under his shirt when she was suddenly ripped away, crashing against the floor with a loud thud.

"What the-!" Aphrodite cried out when Hestia appeared out of nowhere, picked up the frying pan and began wielding it like a hammer, whacking and smashing at every bit of Aphrodite as best as she could. Percy was also staring in shock, even though he was glad that Aphrodite was not kissing him anymore, he wondered how Hestia would get him out of the chains when Hephaestus came into his sight.

"Well, looks like my wife got her hands on you after all, eh boy?" Hephaestus said, a slight glimmer in his eyes as he fiddled with the chains that bound Percy.

In seconds, Percy was free. He struggled to his feet and was about to spit Aphrodite's taste out of his mouth when Hephaestus snapped his fingers, and Percy was instantly teleported away.

An instant later, he felt his feet connect onto solid ground and he fell to his knees, his senses overwhelmed. He looked up and discovered that he was at the edge of the forest at Camp, with Artemis's cabin easily visible to his right. He groggily got to his feet and spat, determined to get rid of Aphrodite's spit out of his mouth as much as possible. He groaned. His patience with Aphrodite was _really_ beginning to fray.

"Perseus! _There_ you are! What took you so long?" Artemis's voice rang through the air, sharp and clear.

Percy whirled around to see Artemis walking towards him. He quickly wiped some of the spit from his mouth and straightened up.

"What do you mean, what took me so long?" Percy asked. A rather stupid question.

Artemis arched an eyebrow as she walked closer. She pointed to the barely visible stars.

"Oh." Was all Percy said. When he had left, it was around 4 o'clock. Now, it was definitely 5 o'clock. _Aphrodite kept me chained up for that long?_ Percy thought incredulously.

"Exactly. So, was your visit to Olympus a success?" Artemis asked, stopping right in front of him.

"Um, a success? Partly. Complete success, definitely not." Percy said, rubbing his chain sore wrists.

"Your cheek… what do you have on it?" Artemis asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"My cheek?" Percy asked questioningly, completely forgetting that Aphrodite had kissed him on the cheek when he had turned away to stop her from kissing his lips. Thus forgetting that Aphrodite's lipstick covered lips had left a mark on him.

Artemis reached over and turned Percy's face so she could see Aphrodite's lipstick on Percy's cheek. For a moment, she was completely puzzled until she recognized the red stuff as lipstick. She froze in shock, then, as her mind processed the idea that Percy had a lover, and he had probably bedded her, went through her mind, blinding rage (and, though she would never admit it, jealousy) rushed through her body as she brought her hand back and smacked Percy's face with all of her strength.

The crack was so loud that Percy was quite sure that the gods on Olympus could've heard it. Needless to say, white-hot pain coursed through his jaw and cheek as Artemis slapped him.

"OW! My Lady, what was that for?" Percy yelped, clutching his cheek.

" _What was that for?You have the nerve to say that when you have a secret lover behind my back and just bedded her?"_ Artemis screamed, her rage only building.

She punched Percy in the stomach, then ripped his hand off his cheek and began to repeatedly slap it as hard as she could, determined to smack the lipstick of his face. She stopped smacking for an instant, only to gather some force before she did a powerful uppercut that sent Percy flying. She moved forward at light speed, plucking Percy out of the air before he hit the ground. She punched him in the face, fed his stomach to her knee several times before she swept his legs out from under him, caught him and twirled him around and around, before she slammed him into a tree trunk by the throat. Percy choked and struggled to breath, even though after Artemis's beating, he barely had the energy to stay conscious.

 _"Now, tell me who you were with and maybe I'll let you reside in the Hunt."_ Artemis snarled, her fingers tightening around Percy's throat as she summoned one of her knives.

Percy choked as he struggled for breath. "No…one…" Percy gasped out, not even fighting against Artemis's hand.

Artemis raised an eyebrow as her silver eyes snapped with pure fury.

"No one? Then tell me, why do you have _lipstick_ on your _cheek!_ " Artemis hissed. It was all she could do not to tighten her grip, she was so angry.

"Artemis. Let him go. He has done nothing wrong. Quite the opposite, in fact." A warm but sharp voice drifted over.

Artemis whirled around her, her grip on Percy's throat unrelenting. To her surprise, it was Hestia who had spoken.

"Hestia. And why exactly should I let him go when he's been having secret affairs behind my back?" Artemis whispered furiously.

"Well, three reasons. One, he's my champion, and I do not appreciate him being treated like that. Two, he is completely innocent, I swear on the Styx, and Third, why would you care if he has affairs behind your back? He is, after all, "Up for grabs" to use Aphrodite's terminology." Hestia said, her flaming eyes completely serious.

The instant Hestia had sworn by the Styx that Percy was completely innocent, Artemis's hand had sprung open, releasing Percy and letting him slide down the tree trunk, tears of pain leaking from his eyes.

"Then can you explain to me why Percy has a kiss mark on his cheek?" Artemis demanded, ignoring Hestia's last reason, even though it was completely valid.

"I can show you. But are you sure? You won't like it." Hestia said, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"I want to see _everything._ The truth. Like Percy said, we Hunters don't shy away from it." Artemis said, her silver eyes still angry.

Little did she know what she was going to see.

Hestia's smile grew as she was unable to contain her thoughts of Artemis's reaction. But she waved her hand and a wall of fire sprang to life, showing just exactly what had happened, from the time Percy had called to her for help, all the way to Hestia bashing Aphrodite with the frying pan and Hephaestus releasing Percy from his own chains. The more Artemis watched, the angrier she got. She saw how Percy had gotten the mark on his cheek. And when Artemis saw Aphrodite kissing Percy passionately, she got so angry and jealous that her eyes glowed with a harsh silver light and her godly form shone through for a split second as she struggled to keep control of her emotions. Her form continued to flicker as Artemis glared at Hestia.

"If you saw everything, why didn't you stop her?" Artemis asked furiously.

"To be honest, I wanted to see what Percy would do. Also, I had to call Hephaestus to release him." Hestia said.

Artemis ground her teeth together. "If you hear anything, don't be surprised." Artemis said through gritted teeth. Then she disappeared in a flash of silver light.

Hestia smiled again. For some reason, she found it impossibly amusing about the fact that Artemis was experiencing her first jealousy fit. In all honesty, Hestia felt rather jealous too, since she also loved Percy, in both a romantic way and a motherly way. She cared very much for him. She walked over to where Percy lay on the ground, unconscious after Artemis's furious assault. She flipped him over and winced.

Percy's entire left face was nothing more than a mass of black and purple. Artemis had hit his cheek so hard that his skin had split a bit, a stream of blood running down his cheek and all the way down his neck. He also had several large bruises on his chin and doubtless more injuries over the rest of his body.

"I am sorry, my champion. I should've come here earlier." Hestia whispered, putting her hand on Percy's chest and sending a pulse of warm fire.

She continued to send in a stream of healing power, slowly fixing Percy's internal injuries and most of his bruises. However, Percy's left cheek had been so badly bruised that all Hestia could do was just heal his split-skin and lighten the shade from pitch black to a dark purple colour. She had just finished healing him when there was burst of silver light next to her. She turned and saw Artemis standing there, ichor splattered on her clothing and knuckles. Hestia raised an eyebrow.

Artemis caught her look and saw where it was directed.

"What? Don't worry, I didn't kill her. Just made her very sorry." Artemis said. Then she looked down and winced as she saw Percy.

"I didn't do that, did I?" Artemis asked, horrified.

"You did. It's a much better colour now, before it was pure black and his skin had split. I can't get him to wake up." Hestia said seriously.

Artemis kneeled down and tenderly cupped Percy's cheek, sending in a pulse of silver light. To Hestia's surprise, it lightened Percy's wince-inducing bruise to a light shade of purple. Still bad, but a little better. Percy coughed and hacked, then his eyes flew open. He took a ragged breath as he struggled to his feet, Artemis and Hestia both backing off. He flinched away from Artemis before standing up properly, although he swayed a bit.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue, Lady Hestia." Percy said, bowing to Hestia.

"Not at all. Hephaestus also wishes to tell you that you should find everything ready in the armory tent." Hestia said.

"Can you tell him 'thank you' from me? I never got time to tell him when he helped rescue me." Percy said.

"Will do. Now, I must leave you to your… troubles." Hestia said, giving Percy a wicked grin as she gave him a warm hug before disappearing in a small burst of flame.

Percy glanced warily at Artemis before he leaned wearily against a tree. He bowed his head.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any anger and strife, my lady. I'll try to be more careful and quicker next time." Percy said formally.

"Being more careful, yes, but um, about your injuries…I suppose that I should, uh…" Artemis faltered, unaccustomed to apologizing, admitting that she was wrong, and, most importantly, swallowing her pride.

Percy looked up and smiled at her. "Not at all, my lady." Percy said softly.

Artemis blushed, feeling touched, embarrassed and ashamed at the same time. Ashamed because she had been so cruel to Percy when she had jumped to conclusions, embarrassed that Percy was right and she was wrong, and touched because Percy had forgiven her so easily, even though she felt she did not deserve it.

"Come Perseus. I suggest that you take a nap, so you have enough energy to teach your sisters." Artemis said, briefly putting her hand on his shoulder before walking off towards her cabin.

Percy couldn't help but smile, even though it pained his left cheek. He put his hand on his cheek and his smile grew.

"As you wish, my lady." Percy whispered.

"Percy! Wakey-wakey!" Tracy's voice came shouting at him right next to his ear.

Percy groaned and an instant later, he something heavy jump on top of him. He blearily opened his eyes and saw Tracy sitting cross-legged on him, bouncing up and down, shaking him uncontrollably.

"Ugh, Tracy, I hear you, you don't need to keep on bouncing me." Percy said as he sat up and gently lifted Tracy off himself.

"Well then, come on! It's breakfast time, and you said you were going to train- Oh my gods, what happened to your face Percy?" Tracy practically screamed as she saw Percy's purple left cheek.

"Shhh!" Percy said, jumping forward to clasp a hand around Tracy's mouth. But it was too late.

All the Hunters had heard Tracy's exclamation and they crowded around Percy, staring and gasping in surprise at how awful Percy's face looked.

"Percy, what happened? Is there anything I can do?" Sasha asked.

"No, it's fine. It'll heal." Percy said, standing up and digging under his bunk for his chain-covered leather jacket.

"But Percy, what happened?" Thalia asked, concern obvious in her voice.

"It was nothing. Just a slight misunderstanding." Artemis said as Percy put on his knife belts and, out of habit, checked his pocket for Riptide. However, Artemis's face said otherwise, because she had a slightly guilty expression.

"Yeah, it was nothing major. And in case you were going to ask, the misunderstanding is completely resolved." Percy said.

The Hunters knew when Artemis didn't want to talk about a subject, so they let it drop, although they constantly looked at Percy's face.

They had all finished refreshing themselves when the conch horn blew, signaling the start of breakfast. They quickly walked out in formation, talking quietly to themselves as they started making their own theories on how Percy had gotten such a bad injury.

Percy did his best to walk normally, but his muscles were still quite sore after Artemis's "endurance" test.

"You know my lady, after we eliminate the monsters and after Capture the Flag, we should work on endurance testing again." Percy whispered into Artemis's ear.

"I agree. And I must admit, your endurance is impressive. I was pushing you really hard this morning." Artemis said.

"I could tell…" Percy grumbled. Artemis smirked.

They walked in relative silence to the dining pavilion, although the air was literally buzzing in anticipation of what many consider the biggest Capture the Flag game ever. Percy managed to avoid his friends questioning his injuries by flipping his hood off, or else it would've taken them _forever_ to reach the the usual rituals, Percy sat down and began eating when Artemis said the thing he least wanted to hear.

"And also Perseus, after we are done with our business, I must start to instruct you in archery." Artemis said.

Percy groaned in response. He _hated_ archery. It was impossibly hard for him.

"Why? Do I have to?" Percy whined like a small child.

"You may be skilled with throwing knives, but the range will always be shorter than a bow. You've just been lucky so far that the situations you encounter are melee only or are within range of your knives." Artemis explained.

Percy pouted. "And what if I don't feel like it?"

"Well, either you can do it for _me,_ or I can force you into doing it." Artemis said.

Percy fought the urge to roll his eyes. They both knew that Artemis couldn't force him into doing archery, and if she did, it would most likely end up with Artemis quitting.

"Fine. I'll do it. For the first option, mind, not the second." Percy said resignedly.

Artemis smiled and gave a quick nod, while Thalia gushed, "Aww, isn't that so sweet of Percy." The Hunters giggled while both Percy and Artemis blushed and stared at their plate.

"We'll see who's laughing when I'm teaching you girls right after breakfast. So eat light." Percy said, smirking as the Hunters instantly shut up.

The rest of breakfast was all quiet except for a very poor and unfortunate, idiotic camper who had a big ego.

Percy had just finished his breakfast and had summoned a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy for Tracy when a camper walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Percy turned around and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey Percy, you think your group of girls can beat all of us guys?" He asked in a confident, swaggering way.

The campers behind him groaned and covered their faces, preparing for the worst.

"Yes, I certainly think so. You think otherwise?" Percy asked in a calm and cool manner.

"Yup. I bet that you're all talk and no essence. Everyone knows that men are stronger than _girls._ " He said sneeringly.

Artemis's eyes flashed with rage as the Hunters stiffened. Percy calmly turned to Tracy and winked at her.

"Really? Well, then how come a little girl can knock out a big boy like you?" Percy asked, twitching his fingers.

"Huh? What-?" Was as far as he got when Tracy jumped from her seat and slammed her bowl of mashed potatoes right onto the boy's head so hard that the crumpled, unconscious before he hit the ground.

Surprisingly, the campers all burst into laughter. Percy and the Hunters looked at them with confusion. Even Chiron was laughing, albeit more quietly.

"Erm, Chiron, can you tell me why they're laughing?" Percy asked, perplexed.

"Well my dear boy, that kid was one of the last of Matthew's men. We merely poked, prodded and goaded him into doing this. Now I have an excuse for putting him on kitchen duty." Chiron said, still laughing softly.

"Oh. Well then, I suppose you can also put him on cleaning duty?" Percy suggested, grinning.

Chiron nodded, then he leaned in. "I suggest that you and your Hunters go train at the beach. More privacy, and because the campers will be using the arena." He said quickly and quietly.

Percy grinned and gave Chiron a hug. "Thanks Chiron. You'll always be my teacher."

Chiron chuckled. "Even though I completely failed to teach you what I do best: archery."

Percy groaned as the Hunters exploded with laughter.

"Don't even remind me about it…" Percy grumbled, even though he too was grinning.

"I'll see you later, Chiron." Percy said, shooting Artemis a questioning look. Artemis nodded and got up, the Hunters following her lead.

Chiron nodded. "Tonight we'll see if the Hunters will continue their lead. I am forced to admit, I actually hope so." Chiron said, giving Percy a cheerful wink.

Percy grinned and gave Chiron a cheerful wave before he turned away and followed Artemis.

"So Percy, where to now?" Artemis asked.

"The beach. I'll meet up with all of you in a bit, I need to get the armoury tent." Percy said.

Artemis nodded and walked toward the beach while Percy sprinted off towards the Artemis cabin. He had just reached the cabin when someone called him.

"Percy! Hey, Percy! Wait up!" Percy turned around and saw it was Grover shouting.

"Hey Grover, what's up?" Percy asked.

"I forgot to give this- Holy Zeus, what happened to your face?" Grover asked, staring at his cheek in shock.

Percy sighed. "If you really want to know, you can ask the dryads. They might've seen. Hades, they might've _felt_ it."

"Oh ok. Anyways, I forgot to give this to you last time. I've been keeping it safe and healthy. Thought you'd want this." Grover said, reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a plant. He handed it to Percy, whose eyes widened.

"Moonlace." Percy whispered. "Where did you get it?"

"Um, your mother's apartment. Most of it was destroyed by the blast, but I managed to get the plant before the mortals could." Grover said, a little nervous.

To Grover's surprise, Percy pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks G-Man. I really appreciate it. I think this plant is perfect for Artemis's cabin." Percy said, pulling back from the hug.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Well Perce, I gotta go, so see you later, ok?" Grover said, turning to go.

Percy nodded and waved good-bye. After Grover left, Percy stared at the moonlace lying in his palm. It reminded him of Calypso, which pained him. Another reminder of a friend who was lost to him. He wasn't even sure whether the gods had honoured his request, although seeing as the gods had sworn by the Styx, they probably had. He wondered where she was now, and probably would've continued wondering had it not been for the fact that Artemis was calling to him in the distance.

Percy quickly –but carefully- put the moonlace into his jacket pocket and hurried to the back of Artemis's cabin and rummaged through a trunk that contained various tents. He found the little packet that was the armoury tent packet and quickly rushed out again. He reached the beach in less than a minute to find the Hunters all prepared for training, knives already out and Artemis pacing around impatiently.

"What took you so long, Perseus?" Artemis asked.

"Grover had a message for me, my lady." Percy answered.

Artemis nodded. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, first of all, I have to get this armoury tent working." Percy said, unsuccessfully trying to open the tent.

Artemis sighed. "Percy, after all these months, don't you remember that you have to pull the red tab at the top?"

"Oh. Right." Percy flushed and yanked the red tab.

"Don't yank it-!" Artemis cried out when the armoury tent ballooned to full size in half a second, blowing Percy off his feet and right into the ocean.

The Hunters snorted with laughter while Artemis rolled her eyes with exasperation. As much as he'd changed, Percy's simpleness and foolishness still shone through, bright and clear.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. At least I landed in the ocean, instead of one of your bear traps like last time." Percy said cheerfully as he walked into the tent. An instant later, he came out with a cart that had 17 automatons and several dummies piled on it along with 16 pairs of knife sheathes.

The Hunters were intrigued by the sheathes.

"What's with all those sheathes?" Angeline asked.

"They're throwing knife sheathes." Her fellow Hunter Lisa answered. An avid marksperson, she always carried four throwing knives with her, which were hidden in her shoes or boots.

"Exactly. Spot on, Lisa. Since Hephaestus made these, I'm pretty sure that they'll fit to your size the moment you put them on." Percy said, handing each of the Hunters a sheathe for the waist and sheathes behind the shoulders.

He was right. The instant the Hunters put the sheathes in their respective places, they glowed softly and shrank or grew until it fit each Hunter perfectly.

"Here, my lady. You have your shoulder sheathes, but you need some for your waist." Percy said, handing Artemis a waist sheathe.

Artemis nodded and put it around her waist, snapping her fingers to fill the empty sheathes instantly.

"C'mon girls, fill up your sheathes, we don't have much time." Percy said cheerfully, lugging out a crate full of celestial bronze throwing knives.

The Hunters obediently walked over and gingerly picked the knives up before sliding them into the sheathes. They sheathed them into their waist belts with ease, but they were careful when sheathing them into their shoulder sheathes, since it was a new position. After they were done, they stood at attention.

"Alright, now, obviously, all of you can throw knives. But if you're in the middle of fighting and try to throw at the same time, it's different. We'll be practicing with the metal automatons, and I'll be controlling a water dummy to play the "ranged" enemy part. At first, the dummy won't shoot. Later, I'll slowly increase the speed." Percy said, pulling an automaton off the cart and activating it.

"So who wants to go first?" Percy asked.

"Me." Thalia said without hesitation.

Percy nodded. "We'll switch then, so when you get tired, others can practice. Ready?" Percy asked.

Thalia nodded as she pulled out a hunting knife.

Percy pushed the automaton forward, which instantly drew its sword and leapt at Thalia. Thalia jumped backwards, sidestepped, then leapt onto its back, drawing out her second hunting knife before she crossed slashed and jumped off a headless automaton, the latter which clunked to the sandy ground with a thud.

"Thalia…" Percy grumbled.

"What?" Thalia asked with an innocent face.

"Look, I know that these automatons are most likely easy for you, but can you at least try not to kill them so fast so I can try to teach you dual wielding? Also, you just wasted a perfectly good robot." Percy asked.

"Are you kidding me? Just dancing with a robot? No thanks." Thalia shot back.

"Thalia, sometimes you just have to bear with it for a little bit so you can learn other skills." Percy said, just about managing to conceal his impatience.

"Yeah? Well, at least make it a challenge for me!" Thalia snapped as she stepped closer to Percy, her patience obviously exhausted.

"Sometimes Thalia, not _everything_ can be a challenge!" Percy growled back.

By now, both of them were nose to nose, glaring at each other. Thalia's hands were shifting on her knives while Percy's hand had drifted to his pocket. They would've started fighting a split second later had it not been for an exasperated Artemis, who walked over and pulled the two apart.

"And _sometimes,_ you two don't always have to fight! I understand that both of you are very similar and are closer than siblings, but that doesn't mean you two always have to end up battling each other!" Artemis half-yelled with exasperation.

"I am not similar to Percy!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I'm definitely not similar to Thalia! For one, I don't have her prickly temperament." Percy said indignantly.

" _Prickly temperament!_ Excuse _me,_ but at least I don't have those ridiculous mood swings of yours!" Thalia shouted back.

"I may have mood swings, but at least I _do_ admit when I'm wrong! You never do!" Percy yelled right back.

"Dear Fates…" Artemis groaned as Percy and Thalia continued their brother/sister argument. The Hunters however, found it highly amusing.

"I'll admit that I sometimes have a bad ego problem, but at least my fatal flaws are a heck of a lot easier to control than _your_ flaw!" Thalia yelled.

Percy bristled at that. "My flaw may be bad, but at least it's good in moderation! Your flaw is bad all around!" Percy roared.

"GAH! You _annoy_ me, Perseus Jackson!" Thalia screamed, leaping forward and swing both of her knives.

"And you, Thalia Grace, just piss. Me. OFF!" Percy yelled, drawing Riptide to block Thalia's knives.

A small electrical storm brewed around Thalia, but it was no match to Percy's anger. The ocean literally boiled and steamed, while the ground shook slightly.

"And while my flaw might be bad all around, at least I can control it! _And_ I don't have relationship problems!" Thalia yelled unthinkingly, only aiming to hurt Percy.

It did. The barb hit home, causing Percy to stiffen and fall back as he turned towards the ocean to hide the hurt and pain in his eyes.

"True. I have relationship problems… because I'm a gods damned _hero._ " Percy snarled, managing to make the last word sound like the worst insult possible.

Thalia had frozen, guilt and regret clear on her face. She slowly walked forward and reached up, putting her hand on Percy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I just wasn't thinking. Forgive me." Thalia said quietly.

Percy stood stock still for an instant, which caused Thalia to get nervous. Then Percy put his arm around Thalia, giving her a brief hug.

"Consider it done, Thals." Percy said.

Thalia relaxed. Even though Percy's face hadn't changed, just the mere fact that he used her nickname meant that Percy was fine.

"Now let's get training." Percy said, turning his back on the ocean and walked towards the cart to pull off another automaton.

Artemis watched the two with admiration and wonderment. Just seconds ago, they were ready to tear each other's throats out. Now, they were all reconciled, with no hard feelings between the two. She shook her head wryly. Those two demigods were the weirdest, and most confusing demigods she had, -would- ever encounter.

"Alright Thals, let's try again, shall we?" Percy said, firing up the automaton.

Thalia nodded and sheathed one of her hunting knives, holding the other in a ready position.

"Oh, by the way, this one will be much harder." Percy said, giving the automaton a push towards Thalia.

The automaton leapt forward much faster this time, swing its sword at high speed with human-like dexterity. Thalia deflected a couple blows and dodged a few before engaging it. While she played defensive, Percy gave her the rather simple instructions.

"Alright Thals, basically, I'll just summon a dummy made from water, and we'll see how well you do trying to throw a knife and play defense with the automaton." Percy said.

Thalia nodded. Percy glanced at the water, and a second later, a humanoid and human sized figure made purely out of water walked out of the ocean.

Percy directed the water figure to stand still and hardened the water slightly.

"Alright Thalia, try. But make sure you don't get cut up by the automaton." Percy said.

Thalia hesitated slightly before aiming a kick at the automaton and pulled a throwing knife from her sheathe. Just as she was about to throw it, the automaton lunged forward and almost skewered Thalia if it weren't for the Huntresses lightning quick reflexes. She tried to attack the automaton and throw the knife at the same time, but failed miserably. She did manage to kick the automaton away, but when she threw the knife, Percy had to move the water figure 6 feet to the left and 2 feet up so as to catch the knife and not waste it. Thalia snorted while the Hunters chuckled. Percy grinned and waved his hand, turning the automaton off.

"Well, it was certainly better than my first time. But not by much." Percy said cheekily.

"Bring it on Seaweed Brain. I'm ready to learn a new skill so I can kick your ass." Thalia growled.

Percy chortled. "That's the spirit."

Percy turned the automaton back on and moved the water figure back to its original position.

"Start." Percy said, pushing the automaton towards Thalia.

Thalia attempted time and again to try to throw her knife and defend herself against the automaton at the same time, or at least disable the automaton long enough for her to aim and throw, but while she improved slightly over each time, they were still quite a ways off. Percy did his best to help her, showing her how to draw the throwing knife quickly, which position to throw, and the fastest and most accurate way to throw in most situations. Still, Thalia didn't get much better.

"Stop." Percy said, waving his hand. The automaton stopped and Thalia hunched over, sweaty and breathing hard.

"Do you want to take a break and let your sisters try?" Percy asked, not wanting to overwork Thalia.

"No. I want to be the first." Thalia said competitively.

"We're fine. It's quite interesting watching our Lieutenant do it, because she's making it easier for us." Phoebe said, throwing a smirk at Thalia. The other Hunters quickly nodded in agreement.

Artemis grinned too. "It's so nice to just sit at the sides and watch, instead of teaching. Very peaceful. Go on Percy, your ideas are correct." Artemis said.

Percy nodded. He turned to Thalia. "You know when you use your spear in conjunction with Aegis?"

"Yeah? So?" Thalia asked.

"Imagine it like that. How you can wield the spear one handed and bash people with the shield at the same time? Just like that. And use your ADHD to locate your secondary target." Percy said.

Thalia grinned. "You got it."

Percy grinned too and waved at the automaton, activating it. The automaton moved forward and began attacking Thalia while Percy brought up the water figure. Again Thalia played the defense and kept it up when suddenly Thalia did a high kick and whipped a throwing knife out of her shoulder sheathe, throwing it straight at the water figure. Percy moved the water figure to the left by 3 inches, and the knife sank right into its face.

Percy waved his hand again, deactivating the automaton.

"Good job Thalia. Much better. And your motion was smooth, not jerky like before." Percy complimented.

"Well, what are you waiting for? C'mon!" Thalia said excitedly.

Percy smiled and activated the automaton again. They kept it up until after five more near misses, Thalia managed to nail the throwing knife right into the water figure's torso. They all cheered, and Thalia was so proud that she almost got cut by the automaton if it hadn't been for Percy deactivating it in time.

"Congratulations Thals. Now, do you want to take a break, or continue? It's going to get harder. A lot harder." Percy said.

Thalia looked at Percy, then looked at her sisters. Part of her wanted to continue because Percy had said it would get harder, but her fellow Hunters were practically bouncing with impatience to try.

"I think I'll take a break and let my sister's try, alright?" Thalia said. Her Hunters smiled while Percy nodded.

"Alright then. You can go try dual wielding with chains on the dummies, so it'll make it easier later on, or you can practice dual wielding knives on the dummies. Your choice. So who's next?" Percy called out.

The Hunters fought with each other for a little bit before Diana stepped forward.

"Me!" She said excitedly.

Percy grinned. Now _they're excited about learning this skill._ Percy thought wryly. He nodded towards Diana and activated the automaton, summoning a water figure and slowly tutoring Diana through the same steps as he had taught Thalia.

And so it went. All day long, with only a short break for a quick lunch before rushing back to the beach to practice, Percy taught, instructed, tutored and helped his sisters in learning how to dual wield a throwing knife with their weapon of choice, be it dagger, spear or sword.

After the Hunters had mastered the most basic step, Percy began to control the water figure to fire a water bow, with Percy controlling how fast the water figure fired and how fast the water arrow flew. At first, Percy took his time, giving each of the Hunters plenty of time to prepare themselves and throw an accurate attack.

However, as they became more and more comfortable, Percy increased the speed at which he fired the arrows, patiently redoing each speed with each of his sisters. Percy also began summoning the water figure from different places, with various shapes. He also taught them various methods of how to stun an enemy to buy some time to either roll away or throw a knife.

Finally, after many hours of constant work, each of the exhausted and sweaty Hunters could dual wield their weapon of choice and a throwing knife with relative ease. While their reactions weren't the quickest yet, it was an impressive achievement to learn a new skill in less than a day. Artemis apparently thought so too.

"An admirable feat, Perseus, to teach my Hunters a new skill in less than a day." Artemis said, indicating to her exhausted, sweaty, tired but happy Hunters.

"It is not admirable on my side. It all depends on them. A teacher can only go so far before it all falls on the student, whether they wish to learn or not. So you should congratulate them." Percy said, smiling as he sat down on the sandy beach. However, he knew why the Hunters were able to learn so quickly and why they could work nearly nonstop. But Artemis didn't know.

"So big brother, does that mean we can dual wield and attack anyone from any direction now without getting hit?" Lisa asked.

"Um, well, depends on whether you want the buttered up version or the hard truth." Percy said.

"The hard truth. We Hunters always face the truth, right?" Lisa said, winking at Artemis.

Percy grinned. "Right you are. Well, against the average camper, you'll certainly do fine. With the dual wielding, each of you could probably take on 20 of those campers if you're lucky. Against monsters, well, I was never particularly worried unless we were badly outnumbered. But against more skilled opponents, well, all of you still have quite some ways to go." Percy finished truthfully.

"Hey, then what are you waiting for?" Laura exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She was a perfectionist and hated giving up, always liking to finish things until they were done.

"Well, I thought you girls would like to take a break." Percy replied, slightly surprised.

"Maybe the others do, but I don't!" Laura said stubbornly.

Percy shrugged. "Alright then. Get ready for some hard training." Percy said evilly. He stood up and turned to the Hunters that were sitting down while Laura walked over. "You want to work now or just watch for now?"

"We'll watch. Then we'll work." They replied. Percy nodded.

"Alright Laura, this'll be harder and faster. Be careful." Percy warned. He activated the automaton and almost instantly summoned a water figure, making it run in a circle around Laura before stopping to shoot.

Laura reacted with admirable speed, but wasn't quite fast enough. She had just kicked the automaton back and had a knife in her hand when she felt the point of frozen water at her neck. Percy grinned.

"Too slow. Try again."

Laura set her teeth together and gave Percy a challenging look. As Laura engaged the automaton again, Percy purposely waited before suddenly springing the water figure less than 2 feet away from her. Almost instantly, Laura bashed the automatons head with her dagger hilt and whirled around, throwing a knife and causing it to slam right into the water figure's forehead.

Laura turned around with a proud grin. Percy chuckled as he waved his hand, deactivating the automaton.

"Good job Laura." Percy said, walking over and ruffling her hair fondly. He turned to the other Hunters. "So, are you girls going to continue sitting there?" Percy asked.

They instantly clamored to start working again. Percy sighed slightly and threw Artemis a wry look, to which she responded with a bright and shining smile.

For the next couple hours, Percy continued training his sisters hard; increasing the difficulty every time they managed to successfully hit the water figure and avoid the automaton's attacks. Soon, every Hunter, even Tracy, could easily hit a moving target with their knives while still locked in direct combat with another object. Percy couldn't help but feel impossibly proud of them. It was amazing what eating a Golden Apple did to them, they were completely immortal and already more powerful and more capable.

"Hey Coral Boy," Thalia called out, interrupting his thoughts, "Can I try something this time?"

"What is it, Pinecone Face?" Percy called back.

"Set the automaton on me and give me _two_ water figures." Thalia said.

"Are you sure? You just learned the skill, and I don't want you to get hurt." Percy said.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now, will you do it?" Thalia asked.

"If you're sure, then very well. Be careful Thals." Percy said, activating the automaton.

Thalia instantly attacked the automaton and began pushing it back, while Percy waited a bit before summoning two water figures from different directions, each of them raising their "bows" and preparing to fire. Thalia did a backflip, knocking the automaton backwards as she flipped. Landing on her feet, she drew two knives with her left hand and threw them outwards, striking both of the water figures at the same time. Thalia turned to Percy with a triumphant grin on her face.

That was when disaster struck, for Percy.

"Thalia! Watch out!" Percy yelled, rushing forward.

Flushed in her victory at throwing two knives at once, Thalia had completely forgotten about the automaton she'd kicked backwards. That automaton lunged forward, catching Thalia unprepared as it drew a line of fire and pain down Thalia's upper arm. It would've continued lower, but Percy slammed into Thalia, knocking her out of the way as the automaton's blade slammed into sand.

Percy pushed Thalia behind him and raised his hand, a ball of green fire boiling before he blasted the automaton with it. At the same time, a blast of silver fire slammed into the automaton, literally ripping it apart and melting it, completely destroying the automaton. Percy turned back to Thalia and froze.

The automaton hadn't cut too deep, but it was certainly deep enough that Thalia's clothes were splattered with blood. Golden _ichor_ , immortal blood.

 _Oh shit._ Percy cursed in his mind. He forced himself to move as he took his flask of nectar from his belt and gave it to Thalia, who promptly took a small gulp. Her already healing cut closed up almost instantly. However, nothing could be done about the golden blood and Percy braced himself for the worst.

Thalia looked confused as she looked at her shirt. "Um, why is my blood golden? I mean, did it come from me?"

Artemis stepped forward and kneeled next to Thalia, putting a hand on her forehead. Her eyes widened.

"Thalia… you're immortal." Artemis breathed out, shocked. All the Hunters, Thalia included, gasped.

"H-how?" Thalia stuttered out.

"I do not know." Artemis answered. She turned to Percy, who was staring at the ground. "Perseus. Do you know anything about this?"

Percy forced himself to look into Artemis's eyes. "Yes, I do, my lady."

Everyone froze solid. "How do you know about this Percy?" Artemis asked in a carefully controlled voice.

"Because… because I…played a part in Thalia becoming an immortal." Percy struggled out.

"What did you do." Artemis asked simply, her silver eyes beginning to glow.

"Um...well…ah" Percy mumbled.

 _"Tell me now._ " Artemis growled, causing Percy to flinch since the voice Artemis used right now was ominously close to the voice she had used this morning when she had beaten the daylights out of him.

"Well, you know the apples that you ate? They tasted so good because they were…immortal apples from the Garden of the Hesperides." Percy said resignedly.

Everyone reeled backwards in shock while disbelief flashed across Artemis's face.

"That's impossible. No one has ever managed to even get a quarter way there of facing down Ladon." Artemis said.

However, Thalia had gasped the instant Percy had said that the apples they had eaten were immortal.

"Percy! How could you! I thought _Athena_ had the apples!" Thalia exclaimed.

Percy shook his head. "Athena gave them to me. She said that it was mine to do, and I decided to give it to my sisters and my Lady." Percy said simply.

 _"What?_ You defeated _Ladon,_ Perseus? When?" Artemis asked, so shocked that she was temporarily not angry for now. The other Hunter displayed similar reactions.

Percy sighed. "Remember when Thalia took a leave? For almost half a year? I was at the Amazons, training. I fought a bunch of monsters because Athena wanted me to, then she told me to go kill Ladon." Percy groaned. "Hardest fight in my whole life. Ever. Well, almost."

"So it's true then. You made all of us immortal by giving us the Apples of Hesperides? But you didn't even have my permission." Artemis said as calmly as she could.

"Yes, the apples that I fed all of you were Immortal. And technically my lady, you agreed with me when I suggested we eat the apples, so that was permission." Percy said, looking her straight in the eye.

For a second, Artemis was still. Then she moved so fast that Percy couldn't even catch her movements, all he knew was that he went flying a nanosecond later, slamming into what felt like a tree trunk with a crash. Before he could even regain his senses, he felt a sharp pain as Artemis kneed him in the stomach, then she kicked him in the shins before slapping him across the face. The same place where she had slapped him earlier. Then she threw him onto the ground before stomping on his chest, keeping the pressure up by pushing down hard with her foot.

 _"You tricked us?_ " Artemis whispered furiously.

"My Lady, I…only wanted…the best for you and your Hunters." Percy gasped out, the pressure on his chest nearing unbearable.

"I thought I. Could. _Trust._ YOU!" Artemis screamed. With each word, she picked Percy up, threw him into a tree, slapped him a couple more times before slamming her foot down on his chest again.

"Arrrk… of cour-rse you…can. I would never…do anything to hurt you or…my-my sisters." Percy struggled out.

"But you already tricked us once… _how do I know you won't do it again? How can I trust you?"_ Artemis snarled, increasing the pressure on Percy chest.

"If I were to trick you again, it would be for your well…fare. And besides, wo-would you have…accepted if I…had offered it up…fr…front?" Percy wheezed, struggling to breathe. "Do whatever you wish, my lady. But I will never regret my decision."

Artemis froze at Percy's words and stared down at him. It galled her, pained her that Percy had tricked and manipulated her. She had thought that she had finally found a man she could _trust,_ but it turned out that Percy had tricked her.

But as Artemis forced herself to calm down, she realized that what Percy had said was completely valid. Making her Hunter's immortal was for their own good, and it helped ease an old worry that her Hunters would die. She knew she couldn't stand any more of her hunters dying, and making them immortal helped ease the burden a lot. And Artemis was forced to admit that had Percy come up to her with the idea of giving her Hunters the apples, she would've said no.

 _Had Percy ever done anything that wasn't for the welfare of the people he cared about?_ Artemis thought as she continued staring down at Percy. Percy had risked his life many times to save her and her hunters, when she had been wounded, he had taken the wounds and put them onto his own body. He had protected the hunters by standing in front of them and putting himself in the enemies line of fire, and even after he was officially accepted into the Hunt, he had continued doing the hardest chores so that his sisters could relax. And from what she'd heard, he had practically sacrificed himself several times during the quest to Rome and Greece to save his friends.

 _But he tricked you._ Artemis's inner voice said. However, the voice rang weak and feeble, without conviction.

Even now, as Artemis pressed down with painful pressure on Percy's chest, he merely stared into her eyes, not even attempting to struggle out from underneath her. It showed just how much Percy trusted her and cared about her. Artemis briefly considered between continuing her assault on Percy or just deciding to forgive him. She settled for the latter.

With a sigh, she lifted her foot off of Percy's chest, bending down and offering him her hand.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy said hoarsely, grabbing her hand and hauling himself up.

Percy winced and grimaced as pain rocketed through him. The part of his back where had had collided with a tree really hurt.

"So, um, is all forgiven then, my lady?" Percy asked hesitantly.

Artemis glared at him for an instant before her eyes softened.

"Yes Perseus. But that doesn't mean your sisters have. Or will." Artemis said.

Percy turned nervously towards his sisters, who gave him cold looks.

Percy flinched. "Um, so, er, will you, uh, forgive me?" Percy squeaked out in a high pitched voice.

The Hunters continued staring at him coldly, and Percy began to whimper slightly as he squirmed. Then, suddenly, the Hunters screamed with laughter as each and every one of them leapt at Percy, creating a huge group hug.

"Of course Percy! We should thank you, actually!" Tracy said, laughing hard as she climbed onto Percy's back.

"Yes, we should. So thank you for your gift, brother." Phoebe said.

The other Hunters quickly added in their own chorus of 'Thank you's' as they engulfed Percy. After several minutes of hugging and laughing, they fell off, bouncing around Percy.

"You know Kelp Head, it feels great to know that we can't die." Thalia said cheerfully as she bumped her shoulder against his.

"Yeah! It means you don't have to protect us anymore!" Tracy said happily as she jumped off Percy's back Then she froze as she realized what she had just said. "But that doesn't mean I want you to leave!" Tracy said hastily.

Percy and Artemis laughed.

"Don't worry Tracy, I'll always be with the Hunt. And while you may be immortal, that doesn't mean that you can't feel pain. And it's my duty to protect you and everyone else from it as best as I can." Percy said, throwing an arm around Tracy and hugging her close.

"You know Percy, just because your sisters and I have forgiven you doesn't mean Zeus will…" Artemis said, giving Percy a look of warning.

"Oh…crap. Um, will he find out?" Percy asked.

"Of course he will. Eventually. I certainly won't be telling him. But just so you know, you'll be needing that immortality of yours to survive Zeus's anger." Artemis warned.

"Immortality?" Percy asked, confused.

Artemis stopped walking. "You're immortal aren't you? You ate a golden apple too, right?" Artemis asked.

"Uh…" Percy said hesitantly. "About that…I'm not immortal."

Everyone froze.

" _WHAT?_ " Artemis screamed. She whirled around and grabbed a fistful of Percy's shirt. "Why aren't you immortal!"

"Because…there were only sixteen apples." Percy said, bracing himself for an attack.

"But…what do you-" Artemis froze as realization hit her. Her apple had tasted so sweet and so delicious because it _was_ an Golden Apple, Percy must've eaten a normal apple. Which meant that he had basically sacrificed his life for her few minutes of pure pleasure.

"You…YOU BASTARD!" Artemis shrieked, throwing Percy away from her as hard as she could. "HOW COULD YOU NOT EAT ONE? WHY?"

She couldn't believe the fact that Percy was partly mortal. The idea, the mere thought of Percy dying and leaving the Hunt tore at her. She stomped towards Percy, wanting to kick him, but just managing to control herself.

"Well, I thought you'd like the Apple. Barely anyone has ever tasted the Apples, and you and your Hunters can proudly say that they do. Besides, if I hadn't given you one, what would your reaction be, my lady?" Percy responded, slowly getting to his feet.

Artemis gritted her teeth at Percy's comeback. It was a very good comeback.

"You do realize how many complications you've created for me?" Artemis growled.

"Such as?" Percy asked.

"Well, first of all, it's going to be extremely hard recruiting potential Hunters. Because sooner or later, they'll realize that they aren't immortal, while the rest are. Do you have any idea how unfair that is?" Artemis said.

"That's not a problem at all. If you have more recruits, once you deem them loyal and faithful, I can go and pick another apple and let them eat it was a reward." Percy said.

"What? You can do that?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"Erm, yeah, Ladon is kinda under my control now…" Percy muttered.

"And my lady, I don't wish to offend you or anything, but to be brutally honest, I…like our current family. Just as it is." Phoebe said, nervously stepping between Percy and Artemis.

"Yeah, me too. I agree with Phoebe! Who else does?" Tracy asked in her characteristically cheerful and bouncy way.

Artemis watched in shock as each of her Hunters shouted their agreement without a second's hesitation as they all crowded around her and Percy. Artemis turned to look at Percy, who gave her an embarrassed and weak smile.

Had Percy somehow managed to bond the Hunters together so closely? They had all become intimately close, always enjoying the time they all spent with each other. With a deeper shock, Artemis realized that they had all become inter-dependent. They did almost everything together, unless Artemis expressly commanded or forbade something.

With a sigh of defeat, Artemis decided to forgive Percy, if only for the sake of her Hunters.

"Fine. I'll drop it. But one thing Percy," Artemis said as the conch horn sounded in the distance, signaling dinner.

"What is it, my lady?" Percy asked.

"Don't. Die." Artemis said as seriously as she could, staring deep into Percy's green orbs. "Now, dinner. Let's go."

The Hunters cheered as they set of towards the dining pavilion, with Percy letting out a huge breath of relief. That had gone much better than Percy could ever have hoped for.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy whispered to Artemis as he walked past her to take his seat.

Artemis stopped him by putting a hand on his arm and pulling him down onto the seat next to him.

"Now that you're mortal, I need to keep an eye out on you." Artemis growled under her breath as an explanation to Percy's questioning and blushing face.

It wasn't Artemis's only reason. She just felt…better, with Percy next to her.

Percy chuckled. "That's not how it's supposed to be, my lady. I'm the Guardian. My duty is to make sure you are safe and secure, alive and pain free." Percy said, giving her his trademark grins that caused Artemis to stare at his lips quirked in such a cute angle.

"If that's the case, then you can do your duty by shutting up. You're a pain in the butt." Artemis said, trying to sound angry but utterly failing at it.

Percy laughed again as Tracy, rather timidly, pulled on Percy's elbow.

"Yes Tracy?" Percy asked.

"Don't like the food. Can you get me some macaroni and cheese with some watermelon slices?" Tracy asked, looking up at Percy with big, violet eyes.

"Of course, Tracy." Percy said fondly.

He snapped his fingers, causing a plate of macaroni oozing with cheese and a large plate with red slices of watermelon that had a small umbrella stuck into one of the slices to appear in front of her.

"Thanks Percy." Tracy said, giving Percy a hug before hungrily attacking her macaroni.

Percy's sisters stared at Tracy for several minutes before turning as one to Percy.

"Same as Tracy, please." They said, in near unison.

Percy cracked up. "Alright girls, hold on."

Percy straightened himself and clapped his hands together. There was a brief flash of light, and in front of each Huntresses was a plate of macaroni and cheese with another plate of watermelon slices accompanying it. They attacked it with vigor.

"Nibbles, my lady?" Percy asked, turning to Artemis.

Artemis blushed and nodded.

Percy grinned and snapped his fingers, summoning another plate for her.

"Dig in." Percy said. He looked up and realized that everyone was staring at him.

He gave all of them a cool stare before twirling his fingers, summoning a slice of pizza out of midair.

"Hey Percy! Think you can throw us a whole watermelon?" Leo yelled at him from across the pavilion.

Percy grinned. "Alright Leo! Catch!" Percy summoned a massive watermelon and threw it straight at Leo.

Leo's eyes widened in shock before he jumped into the air, catching the watermelon with his whole body. However, the watermelon was so big and thrown with such force, Leo flew backwards and crashed into Jason.

"AHH! Flame Boy, watch it!" Jason yelped.

Leo laughed as he got to his feet and helped Jason up. "Not my fault!" He turned to Percy as he walked over to the Hephaestus table. "Thanks Percy!"

Percy responded with a nod and a grin.

After they had finished their dinner, Percy suggested that his Hunters go to bed so as not to overwork them. The other reason was because he didn't want his sisters to work after they had eaten so much. After the macaroni and cheese, they had requested a fruit salad along with some barbecue.

"Alright girls, let's go to sleep. We got a huge day ahead of us tomorrow." Percy said as he held the door open for Artemis and the Hunters.

"Yup. Now, don't come into the bathrooms Percy. We love you a lot, but some things remain private." Thalia said, throwing a wink at Percy as she waltzed into the bathes at the back.

Her fellow Hunters chortled with laughter at Percy's crimson face as they too walked into the bathes.

Percy smiled and flopped down onto his bunk, closing his eyes groaning as his various aches and pains all over his body relaxed.

"I know my lady, I'll go onto Guard duty, just let me rest my back a bit please." Percy said as he sensed Artemis stepping in front of him.

"You know Percy… perhaps I should not have been so…abrupt today." Artemis said as she watched Percy rather painfully recline onto his bed, feeling that a sort of apology was in order after she had beaten Percy up so badly.

Percy opened his eyes and stared straight into Artemis's silver ones.

 _I love you, Artemis. I love you with all my heart and I wish I could tell you. But I cannot._ Percy thought sadly.

He smiled.

"No need to apologize, my lady. I know how much you hate doing it, and besides, things like that makes life worth living, right?" Percy said, grinning.

"Oh…um, yes, it does." Artemis said, not expecting Percy to be so cheerful and light-hearted about it. "Well then, good night Perseus."

"Good night my lady." Percy said as Artemis walked into her room.

Percy got up, stretching his muscles and his spine to prepare himself for Guardian duty. Then Artemis's door opened and Artemis herself poked her head through with a sly smile on her face.

"You know Perseus, that means that I now have your permission to beat you up as much as I want now, right?" Artemis said cheekily, her silver eyes dancing with amusement.

Percy stared at her with his mouth wide open as realization hit him. Artemis laughed a sparkling laugh at Percy's expression. Then it died down as she remembered something else.

"Oh, and Percy?" Artemis said.

"Yes, my lady?" Percy asked.

"Um, well, I, ah," Artemis stumbled, unable to meet Percy's gaze. "Thank you." She whispered before closing the door.

Percy stared at the door before he shook his head as he walked outside and jumped into a nearby tree. Artemis was so confusing. He leaned back against the tree trunk and sent his senses out, doing a wide sweep to check for anything out of place. Obviously, he sensed a massive immortal aura at the back of Artemis's cabin, where they were taking their bathes. He grinned. He'd play a prank on them when he was done.

After he finished his sweep, he concentrated on the water that the Hunters were currently submerged in…and promptly froze it. He didn't turn it into ice, but he made the water solid. He waited for their reactions, which didn't take long.

"Hey, what the-?"

"What jus-"

"PERSEUS JACKSON! DESOLIDIFY THE WATER _RIGHT NOW!_ " Thalia's angry scream came ripping through the air.

Percy smirked and de- solidified the water, butthe turned the temperature of it to an icy cold.

There was a brief slew of screams and shrieks while Percy fought to stop himself from falling out of the tree because he was laughing so hard.

"JACKSON! YOU SEAWEED BRAIN! HEAT THE WATER UP!" Thalia screamed.

Percy briefly debated whether he should listen to Thalia, or just continue freezing the water when Artemis's voice rang out.

"Percy. Put the water back to its original temperature. And let me sleep." Artemis said simply.

"Your will, my lady." Percy chuckled under his breath. He release his control over the water and heated up to the temperature they had all liked when he had made the bathes for them.

"I WILL KILL YOU, JACKSON!"

Percy laughed one last time before settling against the tree trunk.

Some things never change.

"So my lady, what is our plan going to be for tonight?" Percy asked Artemis after they had finished lunch and were currently all lounging in Artemis's cabin.

Morning had been pretty eventful, what with Thalia attempting to shock Percy at every instance, running after him with her iPod so she could blast nasty music into his poor ears, Piper coming over to ask why her mother wasn't answering anyone and some big talk between Percy's old friends.

"Well, obviously I won't be participating, but I'm definitely going to set the traps. And the flag. Oh, those campers won't know what hit them. Although I'm not particularly worried, since no camper since the last 500 years or so has ever managed to get close to our flag." Artemis said with pride.

"Except me." Percy said cheerily.

"Really? How close did you get?" Artemis asked.

"He actually managed to get hold of the flag and almost won for Camp. But he lost because that time, he was a weak and scrawny boy and was easily knocked over by Zoe." Phoebe said, smirking at Percy.

"Oh blah haha, but at least I managed to get my hands on it. And Thalia was yelling at me for taking the flag." Percy said, glancing over at Thalia, who responded with a playful glare.

"I still believe that it's your entire fault we lost that time, Seaweed Brain." Thalia said, coming over and flopping onto Percy's lap.

"Yeah, yeah. For the sake of peace and quiet, I'll let it go. This time." Percy said.

"Peace and quiet? Whenever were you peaceful and quiet, Percy? What happened to you?" Thalia asked, smirking as she tucked her head under Percy's chin.

As Percy and Thalia talked, Artemis shook her head just slightly. Looking at the two together right now, it was impossible to imagine that they could have the most violent tempers of all demigods and would constantly try to rip each other apart. Right now, they looked like the closest siblings on Earth.

"So my lady, what type of traps are we going to do, and what traps are we going to rig on the flag?" Percy asked as Thalia got off him and he walked over to where Artemis was standing, next to a table.

Artemis nodded as she waved her a hand, a silvery map of the entire camp appearing on the table.

"Well of course, we're going to set our traps at the very borders of our boundaries. Basic traps, since your Annabeth will probably send the newer campers in first. A couple more yards inside, we'll set several dozen trip wires here and here." Artemis said, pointing to several places that were flat ground and had trees right beside them. Percy and the Hunters nodded, and Artemis continued.

"Right here, there are some natural trenches in the ground. Most people will automatically leap over it, so we'll put more trip wires near where they'll most likely land, and jars of Greek fire in the trenches. When the trip wire is tripped, the jars will explode. Lethal, but certainly not life threatening. Well, shouldn't be." Artemis said, causing the Hunters to chuckle.

Percy however, didn't. The fire instantly reminded him of Frank's stick, and Frank wasn't exactly a very agile guy and since he and Hazel always worked together, it would be very dangerous.

"My Lady, I request a short leave to ask Hazel of a certain thing." Percy said.

Artemis looked at him and then shrugged. "You have my permission. But don't take too long."

Percy did his special bow and quickly exited the cabin. To find Hazel fast, he sent his senses out and searched for the Immortal Camper's aura. He located it, unsurprisingly, at the training arena. To save time, and for the sake of it, he turned into liquid form and shot across the ground to the training arena.

He arrived when Reyna and Jason were dueling each other with a ring of campers surrounding them. The two were evenly matched, which wasn't surprising, considering how much time Reyna and Jason had fought each other. Percy quietly moved so he was at the edge of the arena and analyzed Jason's and Reyna's fighting styles.

Both had incorporated some Greek styles, but they were still obviously Roman, what with the amount of stabbing they used. They also used chopping motions, in stiff up and down movements, instead of hacking and slashing, with the occasional twirl that was common of Greeks. Or his own unorthodox fighting style that was neither Greek nor Roman, mainly a mix of Greek, Roman and Hunter fighting styles.

As he watched, he was surprised at how slow they seemed to fight. He had already spotted sixteen holes and little openings in their defense, and yet none had seemed to try to exploit them. He continued watching them duel until Reyna managed a lucky slash, drawing a line of golden blood on Jason's arm before she pounced on him, holding her dagger to his throat.

"Dammit Reyna, you're getting better." Jason grumbled in a light-hearted way as he got to his feet with Reyna's help.

"Of course. Because I spend time training, while you spend time…training your _endurance_ with Piper." Reyna said, smirking.

Jason blushed. "That's none of your business! And I've been training a lot!"

"That's good. I always like a challenge." Percy interrupted, choosing that moment to move next to Reyna and reform himself.

Everyone jerked backwards while Reyna gave an ear-splitting scream before she hastily cut it off.

"My, my, Reyna, did you just scream like a little girl?" Percy asked teasingly, unable to resist poking fun at Reyna.

Reyna glared at him, attempting to intimidate him, but Percy merely allowed his eyes to burst into their immortal form, a type of stare he used on demigods, which is even more effective than the "wolf-glare" he had developed from his time with Lupa.

Unwillingly, Reyna flinched and backed down.

"What do you want?" Reyna snapped, unhappy about losing.

Percy smirked. "Well, I have something extremely important to talk about with Frank and Hazel." Percy said, his eyes shooting Reyna a meaningful look as he walked towards the pair.

She instantly understood. "Alright everyone, short break!" Reyna bellowed out in her considerable voice. She glared at everyone. " _Now!"_

Everyone scampered, leaving only the Immortal Campers and Percy standing in the arena.

"So, what is it, Percy?" Frank asked.

"I was just wondering about your stick…you're an immortal, but you said that you would die with the stick burning in your hand. And during Capture the Flag, I would obviously be using my flame powers, and I definitely don't want to burn your stick." Percy said seriously.

"I never thought about that…" Frank said as the others also began wondering. "My grandmother said I'd have a short life, because of my shape-shifting powers. Juno -uh, I mean Hera- knew that too. Soo, I really don't know." Frank said, his face confused and in a frown.

"Annabeth? Any ideas?" Percy asked, turning to Annabeth.

Annabeth flinched and stared at the ground before answering.

"Um, I'm Lord Percy, but I don't have any ideas either…it's equally perplexing, although it's entirely possible that if his stick burns out, he will fade, because the stick is basically his life force, isn't it?" Annabeth said, turning to Frank with a questioning look.

"Yeah, it is. If it burns, like when I did it to free Thanatos, I could definitely feel it. Felt like I was seeing my life flash past my eyes, in a literal sense." Frank said, his voice shaking slightly. Hazel comfortingly put a hand on his arm.

"Then if I were to conclude, I'd say that if his stick burns out, he'd die the way immortals do. Fading away, not having a place in this world." Annabeth said.

Percy nodded and frowned. "Thank you Annabeth." He turned back to Frank. "If you trust me, I can keep it safe in Artemis's cabin. Or, you could ask Chiron to keep it safe for you, in the Big House."

"Um, no offense, but I definitely trust you to keep something safe than in the Big House…" Frank muttered under his breath. Everyone chuckled quietly. "Hazel, please?"

Hazel reached into the jacket she was wearing and took out a small stick wrapped in protective layers, even smaller than it was before, since it had briefly been burned before Percy had set the fire out.

"Here Percy. Keep it safe, alright?" Hazel said.

 _"Quippe."_ Percy said, the Latin word for 'Of course' popping out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Frank, Hazel, Reyna and Jason grinned while Piper, Leo and Nico looked confused. Annabeth tilted her head to the side before nodding.

"What did you just say?" Piper asked.

"βεβαίως" Percy said, smirking as Frank, Hazel, Jason and Reyna looked confused.

"That's not fair Percy, you're a Greek, and yet you can speak Latin pretty darn well. How come I can't? As a matter of fact, how come no one can?" Jason pouted.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. But it's quite fun. _Videbo te mox."_ Percy said, smirking at Piper, Leo's and Nico's annoyed and confused faces when he said 'See you later' in Latin while chortling at Jason and Reyna's laughter.

"See you later, Ρομά" Percy yelled at Frank, Hazel, Jason and Reyna. They looked dumbfounded and confused while Annabeth, Nico, Leo and Piper screamed with laughter at Percy's play on words.

Percy chuckled. He had just called Jason, Reyna, Frank and Hazel a "Romani", which in some ways also meant 'prostitute'. A very nice way to play with words, since they were Roman's, and he called them 'Romanies'. He laughed again and transformed into liquid form, shooting across the ground and back to Artemis's cabin.

"… and if Perseus can do it, I'm sure that this'll stop a _lot_ of campers from coming over." Artemis was saying as Percy crept up behind her.

Percy was just about to reform back into his own form when Artemis lifted her foot and brought it down 5 inches behind her, right onto Percy's liquid foot.

"Ow!" Percy yelled as he instantly reformed back into flesh.

Artemis turned around with a smirk on her face. "I did tell you Percy, that when you are near me, I can sense you." Artemis said, giving a soft chuckle.

Percy sighed. "Well, I forgot. And my lady, I need you to put this in a very safe place, at least for tonight's Capture the Flag game." Percy said, taking Frank's stick out of his pocket.

"Typical…"Artemis muttered. "Ahhh, his life stick? Very well, I shall keep it with me. Rest assured Perseus, I will keep this safe." Artemis said, taking the stick and putting it in her jacket.

"Thank you, my lady. Now what were you talking about right before you stomped on me?" Percy asked.

"Here. When the game starts, if you can create a crack from boundary to boundary, then that'll stop a lot of campers, since most aren't very agile. Only the best will be able to get through, and the crack will leave the campers as easy targets." Artemis said, showing Percy the map.

"Affirmative. Of course I can. Just remember that Nico will try to close the crack, since he is a son of Hades, after all." Percy said.

"Well, it's your duty to keep the Immortal Campers at bay, or just knock them out. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?" Artemis asked.

"No, it shouldn't. But last time, I took them by surprise. This time, they'll coordinate their attack, especially with Annabeth's help. Speaking of Annabeth, I think you should add a couple more traps here that are specifically targeted, and more traps here also…" Percy said, pointing to a couple more spots.

They continued the discussion for about another half hour as Percy used his Athena-enhanced brain to execute flawless strategies. By the time they had finished, Artemis was forced to admit that Percy's additions were very clever and was rather shocked that she had missed them.

"Alright Perseus. Since you're our Guardian, you should save us from the stress of making the traps. Go do them." Artemis commanded, her silver eyes gleaming.

"As you wish, my lady." Percy said, picking up a piece of paper and quickly copying the silvery map on the table. In seconds, he was done and walked into the back of the cabin to get the equipment. Minutes later, he came back out, a huge sack slung over his shoulder. With a cheery wave, he went right out of the cabin and straight into the woods.

"I expected him to protest a bit." Artemis admitted out loud.

"Except he didn't. Because he's one of us." Elizabeth said, grinning as she stepped to stand by Artemis's side.

Artemis nodded slowly, then shook her head. She turned back to face her Hunters.

"C'mon girls. While Percy is toiling, you girls need to work too." Artemis said, smiling at their groans as they got off the various couches and chairs in her cabin.

Percy grinned as he planted yet another trip wire connected to a jar of Greek fire. There were already more than 50 trip wires with Greek fire in the forest now, but he didn't have to worry about a wildfire, since Artemis had picked the spots carefully and had made sure the Greek fire explosions were tightly controlled. He couldn't wait for the campers' reaction as soon as they realized that within 2 inches from their borders were piles of traps.

His grin disappeared however, as soon as he saw that he had to plant _more_ underground mines. While extremely stealthy, they were a pain to plant and activate. It took him roughly 15 minutes to plant just one of them. He got to his knees and began digging a hole a foot deep, took out more wires and twisted them so it covered the sides of the hole, then placed a jar of some type of explosive that Artemis had and dropped it in. He twisted the jar's cap 45 degrees, so the instant anyone stepped on the top, the explosive would go off and the metal wires surrounding it would help concentrate the blast.

He got up again and looked at his next objective. Pit traps, netting traps, netting traps, Greek fire traps, trip wire traps, false ground traps in the forest, all check. Now all he had to do was put the traps around the place where the flag would be.

Since they would be relatively close if any campers got past them, the traps were all non-explosive. All Percy had to do was dig holes. A lot of holes. And fill them up with sticky gunk. Percy sighed and got to work. His dug all the holes easily, but his first attempt to fill a hole up with the gunk was not a success. Quite the opposite, actually.

He had reached into the bag and pulled out the small little jar that he was supposed to point into the hole and twist open. However, the cap was stuck pretty tight so Percy tried to smash the jar. When that failed, he brought it up and was just about to touch the cap when it exploded, drenching and covering Percy in the sticky gunk.

Percy cursed a million curses as he attempted to wipe himself down. Not even Aphrodite's enchanted clothes seemed to be able to shake it off. Percy groaned and decided to fill the rest of the holes up, since if he was dirty right now, if another exploded, it wouldn't hurt him too much.

Fortunately for Percy, none exploded, although the sticky gunk had hardened considerably and made his work much harder. He had to fight against the stickiness with much of his strength, or else he'd have frozen long time ago.

With some straining, Percy got to his feet and took a breath. With a bit of some shock, he realized that it was late, almost dinner time! He tried to turn around and run back to Artemis's cabin, but he found himself moving in slow motion, with the gunk clinging to his entire body and slowing his movements down. After a 15 minute walk that would normally take him 2 minutes, he finally reached Artemis's cabin, his muscles beginning to burn a bit from fighting the stickiness and from the fact that he had to hop to avoid some traps. He really had to get the stickiness off, even though the stickiness seemed impervious to water and fire. He knocked on the door before pausing and then opening it.

"My Lady, I could use some assistance here." Percy grumbled as he stumbled inside.

"Perseus! What happened?" Artemis said, whirling around and staring at Percy with wide eyes.

"Oh nothing. It's just that one of the bottles wouldn't open, and it exploded instead." Percy said as nonchalantly as possible.

Artemis and the Hunters screamed with laughter as Percy gave them all a rueful glare.

"Sorry Percy, it's just that we all find that so f-fun-ny." Thalia stuttered out, shaking with laughter.

Artemis smiled and walked over, snapping her fingers and instantly removing all traces of the sticky gunk that Percy had on his body.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy said gratefully.

"Well Percy, you joined us at just the right time. It's time for dinner. And then fun." Artemis said. Just as she said it, the conch horn sounded.

"Then let's go, shall we, my lady?" Percy said, holding the door open.

"First, we suit up." Artemis said, giving an evil grin.

The Hunters disappeared into a back room, and minutes later, they stepped out, dressed in the clothes Percy had asked Aphrodite to make them many months ago. However, each Hunter also had throwing knife sheathes at their waist and above each shoulder, giving them all a dangerous look. Combined with the chains that glittered, they were deadly. Artemis herself changed her clothing into her favourite. A silver suit/jacket with two chains on either side, and her leaf and vine etched pants.

" _Now_ let's go." Artemis said, grinning.

When they arrived at the pavilion, the air was literally buzzing with excitement and anticipation. All too soon, everyone was done eating, completely armoured, and were anxiously waiting for Chiron's announcement of the game.

"So, as everyone knows, this will probably be one of the biggest Capture the Flag games ever! On Blue Team are the campers, and against them will be the Hunters! Remember, no killing, and try your best not to injure someone. Magical items and everything else are allowed! I will be refereeing, while Lady Artemis will be watching. Now to your positions and await my signal!" Chiron roared.

The campers cheered and ran off, while Artemis merely snapped her fingers, instantly teleporting them all to where the flag was.

Their Flag was a simple design, a cloth of silver with two crescent moons facing each other on it. It was, however, as Percy knew, dangerous, and especially so towards a certain type of demigod, thanks to Percy's addition. Artemis gave them a nod of encouragement before summoning a large, comfy, chintz armchair and sitting down right behind the flag. As the Hunters got into position in the trees, the horn blew, indicating the start of the game.

As planned, Percy stomped his foot, causing a minor earthquake and making a deep and wide crack appear in front of the Hunter's trees, causing anyone who gets stranded on the other side a sitting duck for the Hunters.

It turned out that the newer campers were even more inept than Percy had expected. There were screams and yells as they fell into the traps that Percy had laid out, while others managed to get past the first wave of Greek fire before they fell into deep pits. Others, Percy assumed, had been strung up so tightly they'd be stuck for the duration of the game.

Finally, a single, lone camper appeared. He was wearing full armour, panting heavily, and had scorch marks all over him. He came yelling, only to jerk to a stop and shriek as he nearly fell into the crevice.

A single arrow flew from the trees, hitting him right on the helm with enough force to knock him out instantly.

"Percy! How bad are the campers?" Angeline yelled.

"Eh, pretty bad. However, prepare yourselves when the older campers come in. They're much stronger, especially the survivors since the Titan War." Percy replied.

"Good. Cause it's getting boring!" Angeline yelled back.

Percy grinned as he drew both of his swords. It _was_ actually kind of boring. There was apparently a never ending supply of screams and yells.

"I spy a little camper!" Tracy yelled out. "A few little campers!"

At exactly that instant, a massive eagle shot overhead, heading straight towards the flag with a triumphant screech. His screech was cut short, however, when Percy leapt into the air and landed on top of the eagle, crushing it towards the ground. They spun in circles as they fought to keep one another at the bottom.

They both slammed into the ground hard, but Percy being the more experienced one, got up first. However, he allowed Frank to get up and change form before he engaged Frank.

Frank retreated steadily, cursing himself for deciding to go first. He should've stayed back as a archer, that's what he was. He wasn't a swordsmanship guy. He could already feel sweat beading on his forehead as he struggled to keep Percy's single sword at bay.

Frank leapt backwards and transformed into a bull before rushing headlong with abandon. Percy barely managed to jump aside as Frank bulled past him.

"Bad idea Frank!" Percy yelled. He unhooked a chain and sent it flying, wrapping itself around Frank's horns. Before Frank could react, Percy yanked, causing Frank to fly towards him. Frank's head met Percy's fist with a crunch and Frank flopped to the ground in his normal form, unconscious.

"Next time Frank buddy, stick to archery and transforming to big, lumbering giants." Percy said, giving Frank a brief pat before standing up to survey his surroundings. Artemis smiled slightly and snapped her fingers, teleporting Frank to their prison.

Percy cocked his head. "Are you supposed to do that?"

Artemis shrugged, not offering a reply.

"Percy! You got company!" Thalia yelled at him.

Percy turned around and saw Jason, Reyna and Hazel coming at him. They had managed to leap over the crack, although from what Percy could see, and could tell from the piles of bodies, not many had managed to past.

Jason raised his spear and summoned a blast of lightning, aiming it straight at Percy.

Percy raised his sword and the lightning bolt bounced off Riptide, just like it did with Porphyrion. However, instead of flying back at Jason, it slammed into Reyna, blowing her off her feet. Both Jason and Leo winced.

"Leo! Keep him busy!" Jason yelled as he rushed towards Reyna, feeling guilty.

"Keep you busy? How?" Leo squeaked. Nevertheless, he took out his two hammers and jumped at Percy, praying that the training he had received from Jason would be enough to hold Percy back.

Percy grinned and put one sword behind his back while making Leo dance and twirl around like a ballerina as he stabbed and poked.

"You know Leo, you'd make a good ballerina." Percy said, unable to resist poking fun at him.

"Very…funny." Leo gasped out as he dodged another of Percy's thrusts. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"Very smart." Percy commented, keeping an eye out for Jason out of the corner of his eye. He saw him stand up, and then pull Reyna up with him. As he did so, his senses also told him that two more Immortals had joined him, which he assumed was Piper and Hazel. "Sorry, gotta knock you out. Be still, and this'll be painless."

Percy jumped forward, dodged a hammer and thumped Leo's head with his sword hilt. However, before he even hit the ground, he disappeared in a fine silver mist.

"Alright Percy, fight us now." Jason said as he, Reyna, Piper and Hazel surrounded him. Percy took a quick glance at his Hunter and was relieved to see that they were completely fine. A few were engaged in close combat, but it looked like a one-sided fight.

"You sure you want to use your spear, Jason?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jason asked warily, watching out for any trick.

"If you're sure, then come on." Percy said.

Jason hesitated before he lunged forward, a move that would spear Percy through the body. Percy leaped to the side and gripped the side of the spear. Jason thought he was going to disarm him or wrench it out of his grasp so he tightened his grip. A mistake. Percy smirked and pulled up with his left hand while pushing down with his right, flipping Jason high into the air before slamming him back into the ground.

Jason groaned but was given a brief respite as Percy was instantly engaged by three opponents. Reyna came at him with an accurate slash, but Percy parried and swiped back. Reyna leapt back and Hazel lunged forward, cursing as Percy riposted, opening a small cut on her arm. He dodged Piper's blade and re-engaged Reyna. Soon, Piper and Hazel joined in and Percy's blade sped up, keeping all three weapons at bay.

"Dang Percy, don't you wear any jewelry?" Hazel asked while attempting to stab him.

Percy sidestepped and slashed, only to have Hazel block it.

"Nope. Ever since you freed me and Frank from the Amazons, nope. Jewelry is dangerous." Percy said, grinning.

They continued for another minute before Percy found the holes and exploited them. Piper was the first to fall as Percy suddenly dropped low and swung his foot in a circle. Reyna and Hazel, more battle hardened than Piper, leapt backwards instantly while Piper crashed to the ground. Percy touched her neck with his sword and looked at her.

"I yield." Piper said. Percy nodded and moments later, Piper disappeared in a silvery mist as Artemis teleported her to their prison.

He reengaged Reyna while he shot a blast of water at Hazel, causing her to fly backwards. Percy feinted low with one sword, and while Reyna's blade went down to block it, Percy's other blade came up to touch her neck.

"Dang. I won't say it, but you win." Reyna said grudgingly. She too disappeared in a silvery mist.

Percy turned around and saw Jason and Hazel facing him. Jason looked a little beat up, but he was now holding a sword, instead of his spear.

"Good to know that you learn." Percy said, pointing to Jason's sword.

"Enough talk. Let's end this now." Jason said, jumping forward with a powerful overhand swing.

Percy blocked and whirled around in a 360, catching Jason by surprise as he stumbled backwards. Hazel came forward with her _spatha_ coming down at an angle and Percy's foot shot up, kicking the cavalry sword out of her hand. Hazel instantly reached down and grabbed a large bar of platinum, throwing it at Percy and catching him completely by surprise.

Percy fell backwards with an oomph of surprise as the heavy weight of the platinum sat on his stomach. He pushed it off and rolled sideways, just avoiding Jason's sword, which came down an instantly later. He leapt to his feet and engaged Jason again, pushing Jason back with a series of punishing blows that shook Jason each time Percy's sword clashed against his own.

Percy saw Hazel reaching for her sword, so he wound back his left arm and let his sword fly, sending Hazel's _spatha_ flying away. He raised his empty left hand and fired a blast of water right into Jason's face, catching him unprepared. He hacked and coughed while Percy transformed into liquid and shot behind Hazel, faster than she could see. He reformed and instantly wrapped her in a sleeper hold. Six seconds later, she was unconscious.

Jason rushed towards him, plainly angry. His sword crackled with small sparks of electricity. Percy grinned tightly and set his sword on fire, flames dripping and hissing as they hit the forest ground.

Jason sensed a current of air coming and controlled it to lift him off the ground slightly, in the hopes of getting a height advantage. However, Percy saw and instantly raised his hands, water shooting from his hands and creating a airtight, hardened water dome.

Without a air current, Jason hit the ground again.

"Give me a break, Percy." Jason groaned as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Well, I am. Because if you got into the air, you'd go down like Frank did." Percy said cheerfully as he blocked a blow from Jason that would've cut him in two. He released his control on the water and let it dissolve.

He was just about to disarm Jason when he suddenly saw out of the corner of his eyes a young camper jump at him, right into the path of his sword.

Percy instantly jerked backwards as the camper frantically skidded to a stop.

"Watch out next time, kid. I don't want to kill anyone." Percy said seriously as he knelt next to the young camper.

The camper nodded nervously, still shocked that he had almost gotten cut into pieces.

"But while I don't kill, I still knockout." Percy said an instant before he thumped the base of the boy's skull. He gently laid the unconscious boy on the ground and was about to stand up when he felt a cold touch on his neck. He slowly stood up and saw Jason standing there with his sword at his neck.

"No sudden moves and drop your sword." Jason said, panting heavily.

"Not very honourable of you, especially when I was saving that kid's poor skin." Percy said, not letting go of Riptide.

"Well, you're better than I am, so I need every advantage I can get." Jason panted.

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to win. Yet." Percy said. He spun Riptide in a 360, knocking Jason's sword away from his neck as he leaned backwards at the same time.

Jason cursed as he moved forward again, swinging and stabbing with all his might.

Jason fought well, but Percy decided to go all out with him as he whipped his sword around in a backhanded strike, causing Jason to stumble sideways as Jason attempted to block the blow. Percy then came with a uppercut with Riptide, hooking Jason's sword out and sending it flying. Then Percy kicked Jason in the stomach, forcing him to bend over as Percy dropped his sword and clapped Jason on the temples, forcing him into unconsciousness.

"Nicely done Perseus." Artemis said as she waved her hand, sending Jason into their prison.

"Thank you, my lady." Percy said as he looked around.

The fight had died down. "Sisters! Are you all alright?" Percy asked them as he walked forward.

"Obviously. Nothing more than a few scratches, and thanks to our new skill, we can easily take on a lot more enemies now." Thalia said proudly, indicating the pile of injured campers that were lying on the ground, either unconscious or groaning softly.

"It's like they said, the best defense is a good offense. I don't think they have a single camper standing." Diana said proudly.

"Really? I was under the impression that there were more campers than this. This pile is about equal to what it was 4 years ago." Percy said, scanning the campers for any serious injuries.

"Probably our traps got them. We put way more traps than we usually did. Proof of how well you put the traps, Percy." Phoebe said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Percy sent his senses out and felt an Immortal presence behind him. It could only be Annabeth. He smiled sneakily and pretended not to notice.

"Well, look there, shall we?" Percy said, pointing to a single shadow that was very close to the flag. Thalia had thought up the idea, since Nico could shadow travel, they thought to put a shadow there and a trap right beneath him and they were eagerly awaiting for Nico to fall into it.

"Come on girls, let's go get their flags." Percy said loudly, dramatically walking away from their own Flag.

The Hunters followed suit, but only for a couple more feet before they quickly hid behind trees to watch what would happen.

They didn't have to wait long.

The shadow next to the Flag rippled and contorted. An instantly later, Nico appeared, completely unharmed. For the briefest second, pure triumph shone on Nico's face before it was replaced with a look of horror and a scream as Nico fell…right into a pit filled with the stinky gunk that Percy had gotten himself covered in.

"Annabeth! Ananbeth! Hurry! Help!" Nico screamed desperately as Artemis tried as hard as she could not to snigger.

About 20 yards away from the flag, Annabeth rippled into view. She instantly rushed forward, but as soon as she got within 10 yards of the flag, the flag pole rippled and a silvery spider seemed to ooze from it. Annabeth gave a scream of pure terror and fear as the silvery spider advanced on her. She seemed rooted to the spot as the spider got closer and closer. Annabeth's eyes were full of fear and her face was paper white.

Percy had originally thought he'd enjoy watching, but he couldn't help but feel really bad. Looking at Thalia's face, he knew she felt like that too.

"I'll go Percy. You go get the flag." Thalia said, walking forward towards Annabeth, ready to relieve her of her misery.

Percy nodded and turned around, heading towards the river that signaled their border. As he walked towards it, he noticed where most of the campers were. They were all either strung up, unconscious from Greek fire blasts, or caught under huge piles of dirt. While he felt sorry for the campers, he also felt immensely proud of his own handiwork.

As he reached the river, he extended his wings and shot into the night sky. He flapped his wings hard, speeding up so he could see everything. He saw the Flag, glittering high on Zeus's Fist, or, as a lot of people liked to call it, a pile of deer dung. He swooped down when his sharp eyes caught something else glittering. A metal sheen. Percy instinctively rolled, just avoiding a exploding shell as he righted himself. Soon, the air was full of flack and darts as the Ares campers attempted to shoot him down.

"Let's make him put on an air show, everyone!" Clarisse bellowed as she manned a AA gun by herself.

"Like em Prissy? Gift from our Father, because you blew him up!" Clarisse yelled.

Percy cursed as he rolled and twisted, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never get closer than 300 feet to the ground. That left only one option left, if it were to be non-fatal.

Percy shot straight up to get out of the range before he steadied himself. He raised his fist towards the sky and gave a yell, summoning the strongest storm he could. Immediately, thunder boomed as lightning flashed, and an enormous downpour came crashing down. The rain came down so hard, it was as if Niagra Falls was above the camp. And while Percy was perfectly dry, the situation below could never have been worse.

The Ares campers were literally blind as they struggled to even see their own hands. Percy grinned as he swooped down, plucking the Blue Team's flag straight from the pile of deer dung. Slowly and calmly, Percy walked towards the river that marked the borders, only waving his hand to shut off the storm when there was enough distance between him and the campers.

He walked to the river and stopped right at it, waiting for his sisters to turn up. They turned up a split second later, beaming hugely as they were followed by all the campers they had defeated.

With great flair, Percy stepped into the river, and then finally crossed it, scoring and clenching another victory for the Hunters.

The campers groaned loudly as the Hunters cheered, swarming around Percy and giving him hugs.

"The Hunters of Artemis win for the 58th time in a row! Congratulations!" Chiron yelled loudly. Before, he had sounded rather tired when he announced that the Hunters had won a game. But this time, he was cheerful and smiling.

"Yeah Perce! With all that rain, I don't think the strawberry plants ever need to worry about watering for the rest of this summer!" Grover yelled as he too gave Percy a big hug.

"Good job Perseus, although I'd be disappointed if you hadn't managed to win." Artemis said, her face glowing as she smiled and gave Percy a pat on the shoulder.

To Percy, that single pat was worth more than all the hugs combined.

"I believe your friends would like to know who won, eh?" Artemis said, still smiling. She waved her hand and Jason, Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Piper, and Leo appeared.

They all stared at Percy holding their flag and groaned.

"Why am I not surprised?" Jason grumbled as the others just laughed.

"Congratulations Percy. That was a really good trick." Nico's voice came from behind. He was covered in the sticky gunk and moved stiffly. "I'd give you a hug, but I don't think I want to stay stuck to you forever."

"Thanks, Zombie Dude." Percy said, giving Nico a light tap on the shoulder where he didn't have any gunk. "My Lady, could you please?"

"Oh alright." Artemis said. She snapped her fingers, instantly cleaning Nico up. Nico bowed.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis." Nico said as respectfully as he could. Artemis merely nodded.

"Alright campers, it's past curfew, and it's time for bed! For anyone that has injuries, you can sleep in the infirmary and the Apollo-" Chiron halted as he realized that all of the Apollo campers were pretty badly injured themselves, courtesy of blunt-tipped arrows.

Suddenly, there was an intense burst of light, and the 13 Olympians appeared. Chiron's eyes widened as he quickly bowed.

"My Lord and Ladies, what can we do for you?" Chiron asked.

Zeus nodded his greeting and turned to Apollo.

"Apollo, take care of the campers, except for the Immortals." Zeus ordered.

Apollo nodded and disappeared in a flash of light, taking most of the campers with him.

"Alright, we have located the locations of the monster groups. Artemis, we need you and your Hunters to take them out. Jason, Reyna, Hazel and Frank, return to Roman Camp to warn them and keep an eye out for any powerful presence. The Titans are still on the loose and we have been unable to locate them. Piper, Leo, and Annabeth, guard this camp. Nico, well, your Father will tell you what he wants." Zeus said.

Artemis nodded while the Immortal Campers bowed. "My Hunters can take care of this in no time. You can count on us, Father." Artemis said.

Zeus nodded while Athena spoke up.

"In the meantime, we will continue searching for the loose Titans. The fact that they are still hidden means that they are weak, or very well protected." Athena said.

"Or it could also be because you gods are still a bit weak?" Percy blurted out foolishly. Everyone froze solid, anxiously watching the Olympian's reactions.

It was a mixed bag. Poseidon had a strangely prideful look in his eyes, Hades merely rolled his eyes, Hermes had a slight smirk on his face, Hestia looked exasperated, Athena had a 'How-stupid-can-you-be' look, Dionysus was surprisingly unreactive, Demeter had a 'who cares' look, Hera's eyes were flashing slightly, Hephaestus was making a sound between a grumble and a chuckle, Aphrodite was staring at Percy, Ares was growling and glaring daggers while Zeus was, well, Zeus was _pissed._

The air around him crackled and stank of ozone as he stiffly grabbed Hera's hand and disappeared in a burst of lightning. Most of the lightning seemed directed towards Percy, scorching his clothes and leaving soot marks on his face.

Soon, the other Olympians began to teleport away, although most of them gave Percy a cheery wave while others, like Poseidon and Hestia, gave Percy a quick hug before leaving. Aphrodite stayed behind, wanting to give Percy a hug too, but scampered at Artemis's warning gaze.

"Well, good night then Percy. And good fight. Now I know why you're a Guardian." Piper said, surprisingly giving Percy a hug and a light kiss on the cheek.

Reyna rather shyly gave him a hug too after congratulating him, with Hazel following suit. Annabeth seemed to hesitate before she dashed off and Jason offered his own congratulations, followed by what they called a "man hug"

"G'night G-Man." Percy said, giving his best friend a last hug. Grover nodded and bowed one more time to Artemis before dashing off, probably to enjoy some time with Juniper or something.

Artemis snapped her fingers, sending them all back into her cabin.

"Woot! Let's celebrate, shall we?" Tracy asked, bouncing around.

"Can we, my lady?" Alex asked Artemis.

"Of course. Perseus, refreshments?" Artemis said as she snapped her fingers, causing a large boombox to appear at the back of the room, pumping out some music that Thalia must've chosen. The internal light brightened to give the room a white colour. A table popped up in the middle of the room.

"I didn't know you Hunters actually _partied._ " Percy said in amazement.

"There's always a first time, Percy. Now, typical party food?" Thalia said.

Percy grinned and clapped his hands, summoning juice and punch, along with some donuts and cookies that were soft and smooth, thanks to Hestia's powers. The Hunters cheered and began to have fun, dancing with each other as they bounced around the room.

Percy chuckled softly as he sat on a sofa, groaning slightly as he sank into the plush cushions. He was tired, but he felt energized as he watched the Hunters have fun, completely rowdy and different than what he had originally thought the Hunters were.

"Enjoying yourself, Perseus?" A voice said next to him.

Percy looked up and saw Artemis staring down at him, a faint smirk on her face.

"I suppose so, my lady. You don't party?" Percy asked.

Artemis shook her head as she sat down next to Percy. He instantly felt nervous and began to feel stiff, although Artemis appeared completely at ease.

"You were very stupid, and very lucky back there, when you spoke to Zeus like that." Artemis said suddenly.

"I know… I'm sorry. I really am." Percy said.

"If it were not for Chaos, you would be a pile of ashes right now." Artemis continued, appearing not to have heard Percy.

"Huh? Why?" Percy asked, feeling rather stupid again.

"Think Perseus. When you swore your oath, when Chaos appeared, that was the first time, perhaps ever since he created the Universe, that he has appeared. It shows that he has an interest in you. And no matter how powerful we gods may be, Chaos could crush us with ease. That is why I say you're lucky. My Father, with all his pride and ego, would not be stupid enough to insult Chaos." Artemis said. Thunder roared and shook the cabin.

"Oh shut up!" Artemis snapped at the sky. The thunder stopped. "The question is, what does Chaos want with you? You know, why did you even swear by Chaos? You swore by the Styx, why add Chaos?" Artemis asked.

Percy opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, there was a knock at the door. Artemis and Percy stood up and walked to the door. Artemis reached the door first, but Percy put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. She turned around with a questioning look.

"You don't go first, my lady. If there is something dangerous, it would get you by surprise. That's why I'm here. I go before you, just to be safe." Percy said, stepping in front of her and opening the door.

Annabeth stood there.

"Hello Annabeth. You have a question?" Percy said, giving her a smile. However, Artemis saw Percy's eyes and was actually frightened by how blank and expressionless they were. She had seen Percy's eyes promising death and pain, and she had thought that they were scary enough, but in Artemis's opinion, this was the expression she would never want directed towards her. Percy's eyes were just blank, as if he didn't care at all.

"Hey Percy, could you um, please come with me? I have a few things to ask…" Annabeth said, trailing off.

Percy turned to Artemis with a questioning look. Artemis nodded, giving him her permission.

"Sure Annabeth." Percy said. "I'll be back soon." Percy said to Artemis, who nodded.

Percy and Annabeth walked in silence for a while, just the two of them, like the good old days.

 _The good old days that are now gone._ Percy thought sadly.

"Percy…" Annabeth said suddenly, "There's no way we can get together, right?"

"That's correct." Percy said simply.

Annabeth flinched at the baldness of the answer. "Do you think we could-could try?" Annabeth asked hesitantly.

"No." Percy said, without hesitation.

Annabeth flinched again at how quickly the answer came and felt deeply hurt.

"Percy…do you…do you still love me?" Annabeth asked quietly.

Percy stopped walking and thought about it. While he was still angry and sour that Annabeth had left him because she didn't trust him enough, he truly couldn't throw away their old friendship. They had known each other ever since they were pre-teens, after all. They had also gone through so much together, it would've been impossible to throw it all away, just because of a (large) blow.

"Yes…" Annabeth's heart lifted, "…and no." Annabeth's heart fell. "I still like you a lot, Annabeth. We've been through so much, and we've known each other for so long. I can't throw it away. But if you mean to get back together, like before, before any of these things happen, then no, Annabeth, I'm sorry, but that won't work." Percy said.

Annabeth nodded and smiled. "Remember on our first quest? We were stuck in an animal cage together. And Circe's Island? You made a great guinea pig." Annabeth said, smiling.

Percy smiled too. "Yeah. And you were so uncertain of yourself during the Labyrinth. Remember the Tunnel Ride of Love thingy? You got us too high and Grover had to "fly" us to safety." Percy said, grinning.

"I got us too high? I saved our lives! If you had done it, we would've been human pancake!" Annabeth said, laughing.

"True, very true." Percy said, chuckling.

They continued talking, reminiscing of old times, both of them poking fun at each other's mistakes, although it was mainly Annabeth making fun of Percy, since Annabeth hadn't done many stupid things. After they finished, they continued walking in silence for a while.

"Well Annabeth, it was actually quite nice talking to you, but I really have to get back." Percy said.

"No problem." Annabeth said.

Percy turned to go but Annabeth stopped him.

"Percy…thank you. For everything. And…I still love you. I always will." Annabeth said with heartfelt emotion.

Percy stared into her piercing grey eyes before nodding slowly and turning around, walking back to Artemis's cabin. He took a deep breath and smiled. His talk with Annabeth made him feel much better, as if a big weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He entered Artemis's cabin, only to find that the Hunters were all getting ready to sleep.

"Your partying is this quick?" Percy asked, confused.

"Quick? We've been partying for more than an hour." Thalia said, climbing into her bunk.

 _More than an hour?_ Percy thought incredulously. He looked at his watch, and more than an hour really had passed. _Wow. Talking and reminiscing takes up a lot of time_. Percy thought.

"Lady Artemis?" Percy asked.

"Hurry up and get to sleep, Perseus. We have several big days ahead of us." Artemis's voice came from her bedroom.

"Understood, my lady." Percy said.

He stretched his back and yawned before pulling back the covers, gratefully sinking down onto his bed with a contented sigh…only to scream as his bed suddenly seemed to collapse and he landed in a giant bucket of ice. The Hunters screamed with laughter.

"THALIA GRACE!" Percy yelled.

"A bookstore? Why are we going to a bookstore, my lady? Are there more monsters in there?" Percy asked, for like the umpteenth time. For the past few days, Percy had traveled with Artemis and the Hunters to many states, killing and destroying hordes of monsters that had escaped Tartarus when Hyperion freed Krios. Fortunately for them, like what Hades said, the monsters were mostly weak and didn't pose much of a danger, except for a few packs of hellhounds that had proved rather hard to find.

Percy blamed himself for it, since he wasn't quite as skilled at being stealthy in a forest as the rest of the Hunt, but with the help of Tempest and her fellow wolves, they had managed to round up and destroy the hellhounds with relative ease.

Lupa had also sent word, saying that her wolves would instantly start tracking down the Titans, but like the gods, they currently had no trace. Jason had reported, saying that several groups of monsters had attacked camp, but they had nothing to worry about, since there were no casualties.

Right now, after destroying another group of monsters, they were headed towards a Barnes & Noble.

"No. But without any animals to Hunt, or monsters to kill, the Hunt could become a bit boring. So I regularly let my girls buy books to help pass time. Besides, reading is good for you. Also, we have eliminated all the monsters Lord Zeus told us to, so this is a little relaxation before we go back to Camp." Artemis said.

"Oh ok. But what book am I supposed to get?" Percy asked, stopping in front of the doors.

"Stop procrastinating, Perseus." Artemis said, grabbing his hand and yanking him inside.

They entered the store and stood there for a moment as the smells of the nearby Starbucks café hit them. Artemis then realized that she was still holding onto Percy's hand. True, she was in her 12 year old form, but she was still embarrassed. And even though her hand was dwarfed by Percy's large hand, she felt comfortable holding onto it, as it gave her a sense of assurance, comfort and safety. Nevertheless, as much as liked holding his hand, she quietly slipped it out and before she could stop herself, she stood up on tiptoes and gently scratched Percy's wing slits.

Percy giggled. "What was that for?" Percy asked, giving her a rueful look.

"Just because." Artemis said, shrugging as she tried to hide her blush.

Percy grinned. "Well, if you put it that way…" Percy instantly lunged forward, tickling Artemis's sides, since he knew her weaknesses from the beach party.

Artemis giggled and bent over, attempting to ward Percy off and keep her dignity intact, but failing miserably on both counts.

"P-Percy… s-stop." Artemis gasped out, unable to stock shaking as Percy continued to tickle her while Percy watched with delight and fascination at how Artemis's face lit up when she smiled and laughed.

"Perc-y, I or-order you to s-s-stop-p-p." Artemis gasped as she continued to try to get away.

Reluctantly, Percy stopped tickling and pouted.

"Now Perseus…" Artemis said slyly.

She jumped onto Percy's back before he could react, furiously tickling Percy's wing slits through his jacket. Percy gasped and fell to the ground, unable to control himself from laughing nonstop as Artemis deftly rolled and moved with him, continuing her assault on Percy's back. Artemis would've continued, but Thalia interrupted them.

"My Lady! Percy! What are you two doing? In public? If you don't stop, people will be coming to look at you!" Thalia hissed at them.

Artemis stopped instantly and jumped off Percy's back, while Percy slowly got to his feet, his back aching.

"Go on Perseus. We'll meet up later." Artemis said, blushing slightly.

Percy nodded and walked off towards the magazine area, keeping an eye out for the likes of _Car and Driver_ and _Motor Trend,_ eager to see what the latest exotic supercar was so he could make fun of Apollo the next time he saw him.

An hour or so later, Percy met up with a few other Hunters and walked towards the Starbucks café, since he could sense that Artemis was there.

"Hey Perseus, care to join us?" Artemis asked as he arrived.

"Thank you." Percy said, sitting down in a seat Artemis had pulled over.

"No books Kelp Head? Why am I not surprised…" Thalia muttered.

Artemis and a few nearby Hunters chuckled.

"I did read a few books. A couple magazines too, but I don't need them. Besides, I doubt that I'll ever get bored at the Hunt." Percy said defensively.

"True. With you with us, the Hunt is never boring. Especially when you make mistakes and blow yourself up." Thalia smirked, setting off another round of laughter.

Percy grumbled under his breath. "I'll be back. Going to get something to drink." Percy said, rising from his chair.

Artemis watched Percy go and smiled. What Thalia had said was true. Ever since Percy had joined the Hunt, there had never been a single boring day. And Artemis also felt that Percy had somehow managed to pull the Hunt together closer than ever, something she felt was happening to the rest of the Olympians.

Thalia watched her lady smile in the direction Percy had went off and gathered her courage.

"You love him, don't you?" Thalia whispered quietly, so as not to alert the other Hunters.

Artemis jerked, caught by surprise. "What?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"I've seen the way you look at him, my lady." Thalia said quietly. "So do you love him?"

"Of course not! You of all people should know that I will never fall in love." Artemis said with as much conviction as she could, even though her voice shook. "Why would you ask such a question?"

"Well, you always spend so much time with him. You always seem to cheer up when he shows up, and like I said, I've seen how you looked at him. You care about him, too. Don't deny it." Thalia said, feeling braver.

Artemis was shocked at how just blunt Thalia was. "I uh, well, just because I care and like him doesn't mean I lo-love him."

"Of course not! I love him too, my lady!" Tracy said happily as she bounced over and hopped onto Artemis's lap.

Artemis smiled and mentally thanked her for saving her from Thalia's suddenly piercing and sharp gaze. Her gratefulness disappeared as Percy appeared, holding three large plastic cups.

"Hello Percy!" Tracy said as she got off Artemis lap and held her hands up to Percy.

Percy smiled fondly at her as he put the cups on the table.

"Hello Tracy." Percy said, giving Percy a hug as Tracy wrapped her arms around his muscular stomach.

"I love you, Percy." Tracy said happily, putting her head on his chest.

"Love you too, Tracy." Percy said, gently patting Tracy's back. Percy continued to hug her for a few more moments, then gently detached Tracy. "Why don't you go play with the other Hunters?" Percy said, giving her a slight push towards Diana.

Tracy grinned and tackled Diana. Percy grinned and turned back to Artemis and Thalia.

"So what did I miss?" Percy asked.

"Oh nothing. Just talking about some usual stuff." Thalia said, struggling to hide her smirk.

"Hey Percy, what's this?" Artemis asked, holding up her cup of Starbucks stuff, deftly changing the subject.

"It's a caramel macchiato. I think it tastes great." Percy said, taking a sip of her own.

Artemis followed suit and took her own drink, but in the process she got whipped cream on the tip of her nose.

Artemis turned towards Percy with a small smile on her face as Thalia chuckled. Percy smiled too as he stared at Artemis's face, impossibly beautiful for a 12 year old and insanely cute with that white cream on her nose.

Suddenly, without even knowing what he was doing, he leaned forward and gently licked the cream off the tip of Artemis's nose. Artemis froze in pure shock as Percy jerked backwards, his eyes wide as he stared into Artemis's stunning eyes.

"I'm-I'm sorry my lady." Percy whispered.

For a moment, Artemis just stared at Percy in shock before she dashed off so fast that she left after images of herself.

Percy groaned as he slumped into his chair. Thalia sniggered.

"What?" Percy grumbled angrily. "I've completely blown my chances, right?"

"No. I don't think so. But I'm just surprised that Artemis didn't turn you into a cute little jackalope." Thalia said, smirking.

"I'm sorry. I…lost control." Percy mumbled under his breath.

A few minutes later, Artemis returned in her adult form, which caused Percy to blush furiously.

"Come on everyone, time to return to camp. We've spent enough time here." Artemis said. Her face was beet red, but she managed to look at Percy and all of her Hunters without stuttering.

Everyone got up, taking their drinks or sandwiches with them. They silently walked out Barnes & Noble and took a few turns before Artemis turned around to check whether anyone was watching. When she was sure, she snapped her fingers, teleporting them all to Camp Half-Blood.

"I will go and report to Father. Perseus, settle your sisters in and then go search for a good spot to make camp. I grow weary of all this male smell here." Artemis said, not quite meeting Percy's eye.

"Your will, my lady." Percy said, giving her his special bow.

Artemis gave him a short nod before she burst into her immortal form, teleporting off to Olympus.

"Huh. So that's what a god looks like when they reveal their true form. All golden and awesome looking." Thalia said. Being immortal, she and her other Hunters didn't have to turn away when a god revealed their true form. Percy however, still had to.

"I don't need any more images…" Percy muttered under his breath, still unable to comprehend the fact that he had licked the Maiden Goddesses nose.

Thalia heard however, and chuckled as they walked to Artemis's cabin, stopping to give Leo and Piper a cheery greeting before continuing.

"You sure you don't want more images, Percy? You haven't even seen her in a tank top-"

"Thalia. Enough. Shut up." Percy growled without amusement although he blushed while his lips twitched as the Hunters burst into laughter.

"Alright Percy, we're all settled in. Why don't you go and scout around for a suitable spot? I like the Adirondack Park, so look there, with a lake, a river, plenty of trees, a nice clearing, make sure the trees are climbable, the branches are strong…" Thalia continued her list of specifications while Percy struggled to remember it all. "…Alright then Coral Boy, that's all for now. If we think of something, we'll Iris Message you." Thalia said cheekily.

Percy rolled his eyes and gave them a mock bow before he shot into the air, ready to go search for what Thalia called a "suitable" space.

He was lucky.

On his first sweep, he found a river and a lake very close to each, a large, clear space surrounded by hundreds of trees. To make sure that every specification was met, Percy landed and climbed as many trees as he could, then he jumped on a couple and did a couple flips from tree to tree. Then he checked the surroundings for insects or wasp nests, checked the ground to see whether it was soft enough to sleep on and cleared the entire place of leaves, he was satisfied that Artemis and Thalia would approve. Grinning, he marked the spot in his brain and flew back.

When he arrived back at camp, Artemis was already back.

"You found a suitable place?" Artemis asked, still not really looking directly at him.

"Yes, my lady. It suits Thalia's stringent needs and standards." Percy said as Thalia chuckled when she heard.

"Good. We have some time till dinner, so you can start moving the non-essentials over. I'll call you when it's time. And don't complain, it's good exercise for you." Artemis said, smiling slightly as she walked off.

Percy groaned. The last time he had moved camp, his sisters had not helped at all. They had, if anything, made it harder by hiding objects and then suddenly asking him to move this thing or that. From the way his sisters were looking at him, he highly doubted moving camp this time would be easy.

As it turned out, it was nearly impossible. Every time Percy moved something to their new camping ground, the Hunters would say they would need it and give him something else to move. Then they'd say that they actually didn't need the thing he brought back and could bring it back to the camping ground.

The most frustrating one was when he was moving the spare tents over and Thalia had "dropped" her iPod in. When Percy came back, Thalia couldn't find the iPod and had Percy search the entire cabin before mentioning that she might've dropped it in the bag that held the spare tents. However, Thalia had completely forgotten to mention that she had dropped it in a very special hiding place _inside_ the spare tent, and after a couple fruitless trips back and forth, Thalia got a free, high speed, loop-the-loop ride to their new spot where Thalia found the iPod in less than a second.

After a couple more hours of the same stuff, it was finally dinner time. By that time, Percy's wings were ready to fall off his back. The Hunters meanwhile, were very cheerful and happy, occasionally poking fun at Percy for being their little taxi.

Percy slumped into his seat at the pavilion, tired. He was so tired that he could only pick at his food, even though it was his favourite barbecue.

"Perseus. Archery lessons when you're done." Artemis said. "I'll be waiting." With that, Artemis walked off towards the archery range.

Percy groaned again.

"Hey, don't worry. Archery is fun, once you start hitting the target." Thalia said, putting a comforting hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Yeah? And since when do I ever hit the target consistently?" Percy asked.

"Um, sometimes?" Thalia said, unable to find a better answer.

"Exactly." Percy said, taking a bite out of his barbecue. "Well, I shouldn't keep her waiting, so I'll see you later tonight."

Thalia nodded while his fellow Hunters waved, a couple of them wishing him good luck. Percy nodded and headed straight to the archery range.

When he arrived, he saw Artemis sitting on the ground, looking as if she were deep in thought. A bow and a quiver full of arrows were lying across her lap. Not wanting to be disrespectful, Percy waited a bit before calling her.

"My Lady?" Percy asked.

Artemis jerked her head up in surprise as she pulled herself from her thoughts. She quickly gathered her wits.

"Perseus. Warm yourself up and just shoot, I'll change your position accordingly. I think you're more of a feeling type of person, not someone that I can just instruct." Artemis said, smiling slightly as she handed Percy the bow and quiver.

"True, Moon Beam." Percy said, drawing the bow back and preparing to shoot.

He looked at Artemis with a questioning glance, who motioned to him to just shoot. Percy released, and to his surprise, the arrow actually landed on the target.

"Well, a large improvement over previous attempts. But here Percy, let me show you the correct way." Artemis said, walking over to him. She suddenly grew taller so that she was almost his height and stood behind him. "Alright, do it again."

Percy pulled back his bowstring, but before he could let it fly, Artemis reached over and adjusted his hand position. Then she pressed into him a bit as she nudged his feet into a different position.

"Do this Percy. You can't get any power if you hold your arrow like that, with it clenched tight between your index finger knuckle and your thumb." Artemis said, pulling his fingers apart and moving them into a much more relaxing position.

"And Percy, pull the bowstring back, not just the arrow." Artemis said, pressing herself close against Percy's back as she grabbed his other hand and shifted his fingers. "Pull it back like this, Perseus." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she unconsciously put her head on his shoulder.

While Percy completely understood every single command Artemis had given him, he was impossibly distracted. He could feel Artemis's firm breasts squashed against his back, and since she had grown taller, they were pressed right against his wing-slits, which sent tingling and shocking sensations running through his entire body.

He could feel Artemis's cheek just touching his own, with her hands over his. Totally embarrassed by the way he was feeling Artemis, he hastily stepped out of her grasp, even though he knew it was very rude.

"Um, my lady, I'm sorry but I have to go for a bit. I'm…tired." Percy said, fumbling over his words as he dashed off towards the beach to clear his head.

Instead of being angry, Artemis was shocked. Why had he left so abruptly and quickly? Artemis briefly pondered over this question before deciding to ask Percy himself.

Knowing Percy, she headed towards the beach. As she got closer to the beach, her internal sense telling her that Percy was near began pinging. Pushing aside a canopy of leaves, she saw Percy standing at the shore of the beach, staring out into the ocean, the bright moonlight giving him an ethereal glow.

Silently, she walked over next to him. Silently, she stood at his side and together stared with him out at the ocean. They stared in silence for a while, a peaceful silence.

"I like this place. It is the only place that can calm me down. It clears my mind, allows me to think clearly." Percy said, breaking the silence.

"Really." Artemis said, turning to stare at Percy's face. His beautiful, enchanting, glowing green orbs, his well-defined face, and his mess of black of hair.

"Yes. The sea clears everything out, for a while." Percy said, still staring out into the sea as the sea wind ruffled his jacket, giving his hair the windswept look.

"Percy…why did you leave, just moments ago?" Artemis asked.

Percy blushed slightly. "Because…it was inappropriate, my lady."

Artemis also blushed at the comment, but said nothing. They stared in silence for a little longer before Artemis asked a question she had always wanted to ask.

"Why did you agree to become a Guardian of the Hunt? Why did you swear by Chaos, for life? You could have had a much better life. But you didn't choose it. Why?" Artemis asked, genuinely curious.

Percy thought for a while before answering.

"Because…because I needed something to do. That time, I didn't care whether I was alive or dead. I wanted something to do. A challenge. Something to take my mind off Annabeth. Besides, that meant that I could also spend more time with Thalia, who always changes my mood. For the better or the worse, I don't know, but she can always change my mood If I had gone with a different one, such as becoming a Prince at my father's palace, it would be boring. I get pampered and wooed over, who wants that?. I think that's why I agreed to become Guardian. Plus, Zeus asked me." Percy said slowly.

"But why for life? Didn't you know it'd be hard? And why swear by Chaos? The Styx was binding enough." Artemis said.

"Well, I thought, well, I thought that the Hunt would be hard. Like I said, a challenge. And with Chaos, well, I remembered that Annabeth had talked about Chaos before. And I never knew what'd happen. I just added Chaos in because I thought it'd make me more sincere. Besides, did you not challenge me?" Percy said quietly, his lips quirking into a smile as he continued to stare out into the sea.

Artemis chuckled softly. "True. I did. And you met it honourably." Artemis said quietly. She continued to stare at Percy's profile, her eyes sharpening as she noticed tiny details about his eyes. They constantly seemed to change colour from light green to dark green, a bright green, they were intoxicating.

"Percy…do you trust women?" Artemis asked.

"Not as much as I used to. If I have stayed with them for a while, known them for a while, then yes, I can learn whether to trust them or not." Percy said.

"But why not? I understand that Annabeth breaking up with you would lower your trust a bit, but surely you realize that men are far worse, don't you?" Artemis said.

"Of course I do Moon Beam. But I've had relationship issues ever since I realized I was a demigod, mainly thanks to Aphrodite. She even said she'd mess with my love life." Percy responded.

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, there was Calypso. A beautiful girl, possibly my biggest 'what if'. She was a girl I could never have. There was Rachel, the Oracle, who didn't even really love me. And then there was Annabeth. The first girl I had true feelings for, but I suppose we weren't meant to be." Percy said, a touch of sadness in his voice. _And then you, an impossible and deadly women that I can only love from afar._ Percy thought.

Artemis stared at Percy, slightly in awe. He was so, so different. Outside and in. She was deeply touched and impressed when Percy had given up an Immortal Apple just for her, just so she could have the pleasure of eating it. And Percy had not been selfish, eating the Apples himself, despite the fact that he had no permission, it was easy to weasel an excuse. He was so selfless, so kind, caring, reliable, loyal. An all-around good and true, real man.

"Percy. Why are you so different? What makes you so different than anyone else? How?" Artemis asked him, staring at him.

Percy stayed silent for a long time before he answered.

"I don't think I'm different than anyone else. But I do think it was because of my mom. She raised me up to respect anyone. Even my enemies, I've learned to respect them, if I can. You see, my first stepdad, well, he was worse than Kronos. I'd take on the Titans than meet my stepdad again. He treated my mom horribly. He beat her up, badmouthed her, just didn't respect her at all. I just think that seeing him treat my mom so badly made me want to be a complete opposite. I wanted to treat woman correctly. Even if my life is going to be in turmoil, I still won't forget what my mother told me and taught me. I love my mom, and I wish she were still here." Percy said quietly as he turned his gaze away from the ocean to stare deep into Artemis's beautiful, pure silver eyes.

Artemis gazed into Percy's green orbs with an admiring look.

"I still think it is because of yourself, Perseus." Artemis said softly.

"Thank you, Arty. Coming from you, that means a lot. And about earlier today…" Percy cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I just, um, lost control." Percy whispered.

At the mention of his nickname for her, a shudder passed through Artemis's body.

"That's alright Percy." Artemis said in a voice barely above a whisper.

The two stared deep into each other's eyes as the moon shone even brighter, so bright that it clearly reflected off Percy's gorgeous green eyes and seemed to mirror Artemis's own eyes.

Then slowly, ever so slowly, Percy and Artemis's heads leaned towards each other, their heads turning sideways slightly until…their lips met.

It was a feather-light, soft, gentle and careful kiss. And it was Artemis's first. Ever. In the moment that they kissed, pure bliss and happiness flowed through both of their bodies as both reached up to cup each other's cheeks. In that instant, Percy knew that he would do anything, _anything_ , for Artemis. He loved her so much.

Unfortunately, the blissfulness didn't last. They _had_ to be interrupted. By Apollo.

Just as they were about to deepen the kiss, Apollo appeared in the sky in a flash of bright light that was ultimately dwarfed by the Moon's intensity.

"NOOOO! Artemis, NO!" Apollo screamed.

Both Percy and Artemis jerked backwards before they turned to see Apollo high above them, his bow out and notched. Apollo fired, and a might stream of golden arrows rained down, directly at Percy.

Percy pushed Artemis out of the way as he drew Riptide and spun it, slicing the arrows to bits. Apollo continued his assault and Artemis, brought back to her senses, fled.

"How dare you deceive me baby sister!" Apollo yelled, his face a mask of rage as he fired volley after volley of arrows at Percy.

"I would _never_ deceive her!" Percy roared, anger roaring through his body. The ocean exploded and a huge spout of water shot upwards, smashing into Apollo before wrapping around him and throwing him away at high speed.

Percy capped Riptide and frantically searched for Artemis before he sent his senses out, locating Artemis deep in the forest. He ran straight in, then slowed down as he got closer. As he closed in, he heard Artemis talking to herself.

"You can't. You just can't. You're the Maiden Goddess, Artemis the Chaste, you can't just…just fall in love with a man. It's just wrong!" Artemis scolded herself as she sat on the ground, holding her head as conflicting emotions ran through her brain.

"My Lady, Artemis, it's not what you represent. It's what you believe in, what you think." Percy began.

Artemis flinched. She had not expected Percy to find her so quickly.

"Look, Perseus, I-, can you leave me alone and give me some time? A l-lot has happened." Artemis said shakily.

Percy bowed formally. "As you wish, my lady." Percy said quietly before turning around and heading back to Artemis's cabin, leaving her to her own thoughts.

 _Should I? Should I love him? Should I say yes, or should I say no?_ Artemis thought. It was a thought that would haunt her many years to come.

The next morning was uneventful, if you counted avoiding Artemis's gaze as much as possible, moving equipment to their new camp back and forth, then finally giving each of the Hunters a personal ride, uneventful, then yes, it was uneventful.

Artemis had not spoken a single word to anyone and was currently in her tent. Percy looked around and saw that his sisters were all lounging about, some were practicing dual wielding, others were reading books. Seeing that he currently wasn't needed, he decided to go and take a bath at the lake.

"Alright sisters, I'll be taking a bath at the lake, so please don't come there until you see me, alright?" Percy said.

"Sure thing, big brother." Lisa said, giving him a wink.

Percy smiled and walked back into his tent, taking out a fresh set of clothes and stripping off his old ones. Then he transformed into liquid and slid into the lake, relishing the feel of the cool and refreshing water.

After washing himself clean and feeling greatly refreshed and energized, he got out of the pool and reached for his clothes…only to realize with horror that when he had transformed into a liquid, he had left his clothes on his bed.

"Crap." Percy cursed under his breath. The good thing was that he could just transform back into liquid form and sneak back into his tent. Hopefully, none of the Hunters would notice that he was naked.

He transformed into a liquid form and managed to successfully sneak back into his tent undetected. However, he had just reformed back into normal form and was reaching for his clothes when his tent flap opened, to reveal Artemis.

"Percy, I-" They both froze in pure shock and stared at each other for a couple seconds as Artemis struggled to remember why she had come here in the first place.

"I…Herm…wed-." Artemis whirled around and dashed off, her face a furious red as Percy slumped to the floor, groaning.

 _Just what, exactly, are the odds that I forget my clothes and Artemis comes in while I'm naked?_ Percy thought exasperatedly. However, Artemis would not have come into his tent without good reason, so he hurriedly flung his clothes and knife sheathes on before rushing out, using his senses to locate Artemis. He found her aura at the top of a very tall tree.

He extended his wings and shot into the air until he was at the same height as Artemis. He gently landed on a tree branch adjacent to hers.

"My Lady, what did-AHHH!" Percy stared but screamed as his tree branch snapped, sending him plummeting down 50 or so feet. He landed with a loud thud and he groaned. Artemis was beside him in a flash.

"Percy! Are you okay?" Artemis asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks, Arty." Percy said, sitting up. He turned to face Artemis, whose face was so red that her face made a tomato look light pink. She turned her face away from him, struggling to keep her blush under control. Percy gently took hold on Artemis's chin and turned her face towards him, staring into her eyes as Artemis, if possible, blushed even more.

"Now my lady, what did you want to tell me? And why come into my tent?" Percy asked.

"Um, Hermes came with a message last night. In one week, Zeus and Hera will be celebrating their 3,000th wedding anniversary. And I came in to your tent because I was curious, I wanted to see how a man lived." Artemis said as defiantly as she could.

Percy nodded. "So that's why Zeus and Hera were in such good moods. They require gifts, right?" Percy asked.

"True. But I'm not good at giving gifts, so maybe we won't have to. Unless you have something on your mind?" Artemis said.

Percy thought hard and something dinged at the back of his head. The idea that he had had when he was asking Hephaestus for help. And he could also make a gift out of that idea.

"I think I have an idea… do you trust me?" Percy asked.

The question caught Artemis by surprise. Did she trust Percy? Yes, she did. But she still could never know whether Percy would break her heart if she said yes.

"Um… maybe?" Artemis answered uncertainly.

"Alright then, I'll need to go ask my half-brother for some help. Oh wait, I almost forgot! Frank's stick! I need to give it back to him!" Percy said frantically.

"He already has it. I gave it to Hazel when she was in our prison." Artemis said.

"Oh ok." Percy gave a sigh of relief. "Then I'll get going, with your permission my lady."

"Of course. Permission granted." Artemis said quietly. Percy bowed and shot into the air while Artemis stared after Percy's disappearing figure.

 _Yes…or no?_

Percy flew as fast he could and dived the instant he saw the ocean. His plan was a risky one, but if Zeus accepted it, it would almost ensure no more world wars, or a angry Hera going after demigods. Doing a perfect dive into the ocean, he summoned the water and forced himself deeper.

In seconds, he could see the repaired gates of Poseidon's palace. So as not to attract any attention, he transformed into liquid form and deftly snuck past the palace guards until he reached the inner gates of Poseidon's palace.

Here, it was heavily armed, with two big doors closed shut and squads of mermen manning and guarding the door. Knowing that he couldn't get past them, he transformed into his normal form and walked straight up to them.

"No one is allowed-Oh my, Lord Perseus! Please forgive us! We shall open the gates at once." The guard said, raising a horn and blowing into it. "Open the gates!" He turned back to Percy. "Only a moment now, my lord Prince."

"Thank you. And please, just call me Percy." Percy said as politely as possible.

The guards bowed and formed a line as the gates swung open. Percy walked past and the doors slammed shut. Percy looked around. Last time he had been here, it had been badly damaged. Now, it looked much better. However, this wasn't what he was looking for, so he continued inside, walking past groups of bowing guards and drooling nymphs. Finally, he reached the doors to the Throne Room.

He walked up to the door, expecting to wait. However, the instant he reached the door, they swung open. He nodded his thanks to the guards and walked in. Immediately, he saw his dad, Poseidon, with…Athena. They were both pouring over blueprints and designs, so Percy assumed that Athena was helping Poseidon rebuild his palace.

"Dad, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I must ask-" That was as far as Percy got before Poseidon looked up and instantly engulfed Percy in a big hug.

"Hello my son. What have you come here for? Surfing? Want to see Athena's new plans for my palace?" Poseidon asked, his green eyes glinting.

"Sorry dad, some other day. I need to ask Tyson for some help. Something to do with Uncle's wedding anniversary." Percy said in response to Poseidon's questioning look.

"Ahh yes. I wonder why my brother had to tell us all so late. Then again, we should've remembered by now, after more than three millennia…" Poseidon muttered under his breath.

"Well, _I_ remembered." Athena said, giving Percy a nod of greeting. "Nice job with Annabeth by the way. I'm very glad that she is so much better now, so I suppose I should say thank you."

Percy bowed. "Not at all, Lady Athena."

"Anyways, Tyson, well, I'll just teleport you to Tyson. The Cyclopes guarding the door is …touchy. See you soon, my boy." Poseidon said, snapping his fingers and making Percy reappear next to a hulking mass of flesh. For an instant, Percy didn't recognize Tyson until he saw Ella, who was perched on his shoulder as Tyson made another sword.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled.

Tyson stopped pounding and turned around. His single eye looked at Percy in confusion for an instant before it widened in recognition.

"Percy! Brother! I missed you!" Tyson roared, opening his arms wide and slamming into Percy as he literally crushed him under a huge hug.

"Oooof! Whoa man, I missed you too, but watch the bones." Percy gasped out.

Tyson released his super strong grip and stepped back, examining Percy with a look of awe.

"Wow. You have changed, big brother." Tyson said.

"Thanks Tyson. Hello Ella." Percy said, extending his hand out towards Ella to shake.

"Percy. Percy Jackson. Perseus Jackson. Perseus. Greek definition: Destroyer." Ella said as she shook Percy's hand. "Friends. Ella is glad to see friend is safe."

"I'm glad to see you safe too, Ella. And does my name really mean 'destroyer'?" Percy asked, curious.

Ella simply nodded.

"Thanks. Anyways, Tyson, I need some help. It's a big project." Percy said.

"Tyson is always ready to help brother! What you want?" Tyson boomed.

"I need you to make another Master-Bolt like the one Zeus has. Except that this Master Bolt is powerless. I mean, it can only draw its power from the existing Master Bolt. That way, this won't cause a power unbalance. Can you make one like that?" Percy asked.

"You mean that when this new big boomer is at full power, the existing big boomer will be powerless?" Tyson asked.

"Yes! That's it! Can you do it?" Percy asked.

"I do not know how to make. But Briares can! When do you need Big Bang?" Tyson asked.

"I need it in one week. Zeus's and Hera's wedding anniversary." Percy said.

"Wedding, wedding, wedding. Big Bang, big break. Sad. Very sad day." Ella said. Percy gave her a sharp glance but she just looked away.

"If I call my other brothers to help, yes, we can finish it by then. I have been invited, so I will be able to give it to you!" Tyson said happily.

"That's great Tyson! Thanks a lot. I have to go now, so see you later, OK?" Percy said, giving Tyson one last hug.

"See you brother! I will miss you!" Tyson said, returning the hug with bone crushing force.

Percy grinned and climbed out a window, straight into open sea. With a last wave to Tyson, he shot towards the surface. Carefully making sure that there weren't any boats around and that he wasn't near a beach, he broke through the surface and continued his flight, changing his form into a crane so he wouldn't attract too much attention.

Locating the Hunter's camp, he headed straight towards it, landing quietly on the ground a little ways off. Transforming back into human form, he walked into the camp and noticed with surprise that all of the Hunters were huddled around Thalia, looking at something. Some seemed to be smiling, while others were cooing quietly.

"Hey girls, what are you all looking at?" Percy asked as he walked over.

The Hunters instantly jumped backwards in shock as Thalia hastily stuffed something into her pocket.

"Oh, it was nothing. Yeah, uh, nothing. Just-just showing everyone something on my iPod." Thalia said hastily while the others began nodding like bobble-headed dolls, each of them blushing furiously.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then how come I can't see it?" Percy said, smirking.

"Um, because it's uh, er, inappropriate…for males!" Thalia blurted, struggling to find an excuse.

"If you don't want to tell or show me, then just say so. No need to find excuses." Percy said.

Everyone let out an audible sigh of relief. "But is it something Artemis would approve of?" Percy asked.

Everyone froze again. "Uhhhh, yeah…?" Thalia said after a moment of silence. "Um, by the way, ah, how did archery training go last night? And what um, happened between you two? Artemis barely talks to anyone now." Thalia said, quickly changing the subject while putting on an innocent face.

This time, it was Percy's turn to freeze and blush. "Uh, nothing happened. I failed at archery, and Artemis tried to help."

"Yes, I did. And it went quite well, I think." Artemis's voice came over them.

Everyone turned around to see Artemis standing in front of them. She was looking everywhere but Percy.

"Percy, you have the gift?" Artemis asked.

"Yes my lady. Tyson says that the gift will be ready by then." Percy responded.

Artemis nodded while the other Hunters looked confused.

"Wait, what gift? What's going on?" Thalia asked.

"In one week, Lord Zeus and Lady Hera will be having their 3,000th wedding anniversary. Because it's their third millennia, we should give him a gift. Unfortunately, I am rather…bad at giving things, so Percy's helping instead." Artemis said, blushing slightly as she glanced at Percy.

The Hunters "ooohed' and 'ahhhhed' as they nodded in realization.

"However, we still have one week until the party, and Lupa has just sent word that several packs of monsters have appeared, more than she can handle. We are going now to aid her, so pack up and let's go." Artemis said.

For a whole week, they were either training or fighting monsters, scouting around for the Titans and keeping an eye out for anything dangerous. And for the whole week, Artemis could never make up her mind. She could never make up her mind whether to give up her virginity and love Percy.

 _Should I say yes, or no?_

"Hey Seaweed Brain, how do I look?" Thalia asked Percy as she finished putting on her clothes.

Percy examined her. As was fitting her character, she wasn't wearing a dress. Instead, she wore dress pants and a blouse that was silver with black accents. Her hair was half spiky and half silky, with her silver tiara keeping the hair from falling front of her face.

"You look great. And I'm sure that nobody will care about what we wear. So long as we are polite and all." Percy said.

"Thank you. You look great too. I'm sure you're going to catch a lot of eyes tonight. Make Apollo jealous." Thalia said, smirking slightly.

Percy blushed. He was wearing another suit that had been procured by Aphrodite, along with the exact same pair of sunglasses that had green and black mixed together in such a way that they clashed magnificently. His shirt was also a dark green, but with fancier details, like intricate cuts in his clothing that gave an image of flair. At Aphrodite's insistence, he had slicked most of his hair back. Combined with the dark green and black sunglasses, he looked handsome, hot, and dangerous, all at the same time.

"Now, why don't you go check up on Lady Artemis? It's almost time to go to Olympus, and she's still in there." Thalia said casually, wanting the two to stare at each other again.

Percy shrugged. "Sure."

He walked towards Artemis's tent and knocked. A muffled "Come in!" came and he opened the door, stepping into Artemis's tent for the second time in his life.

It was very much the same as he had first remembered, with many animal pelts and skins hanging on the wall. However, this time there was no fire in the middle and Artemis was currently standing in of a mirror before she turned around.

"So what do you th-" Was as far as Artemis got before she stopped as she stared at Percy. Even if Percy had heard, he wouldn't have been able to answer, since Artemis just blew his mind away.

She was wearing a silky blue dress that flowed down her body, leaving one shoulder bare and showing just a hint of her breasts. Her hair was slightly curled as it cascaded down her head and around her shoulders, while her skin seemed to glow with a soft, white light. Her silver eyes shone brightly and the blush that had made her cheeks slightly pink gorgeously finished off the entire package.

They continued staring at each for several more minutes, as if attempting to drink in each other's image.

"Um, Per-Perseus, we, uh, have to go." Artemis said quietly. "Or we'll be late."

"Oh, um, right my lady. Of course." Percy said, blushing furiously as he opened the door to Artemis's tent and held it open for her.

Artemis ducked her head and walked out, Percy following close behind.

"Alright girls, everyone ready?" Artemis called out.

The Hunters responded with a cheerful "Yes!" but what they were paying the most attention to was at how red Artemis's and Percy's face was.

Artemis nodded. "Alright everyone, get ready. Because of the Titans that are on the loose, we'll have to go through the Empire State building. Security is up on Olympus. But I can still get us into the Empire State without those _males_ goggling at us." Artemis waited a few seconds before she reached backwards and grabbed Percy by the neck of his shirt, hauling him forward before she snapped her fingers, teleporting them all near the entrance of the Empire State Building.

Artemis carefully stuck her head out and looked around. Thankfully, it was past 8 o'clock, so there weren't too many people out. She motioned to them all to follow and walked right out. As usual, they entered the door and Artemis walked up to the security guard.

"600th floor key. Now." Artemis said.

"There ain't no six hundredth door, missus. Wrong place to party." The security guard said in his normal, monotone voice as he stared at his book.

Artemis was about to reveal just a bit of her godly side when suddenly, the guard's book burst into flames, covering his head with soot.

"Thank you." Percy said, leaning over the desk and taking the key card right where he knew it would be. Without waiting a beat, he walked straight up to the little gate and crashed right through it. He pressed the elevator button and turned to Artemis and the Hunters.

"Coming or not?" Percy asked, a grin gracing his face.

With a soft chuckle, Artemis and her Hunters followed Percy into the elevator while the security guard stared after them with eyes larger than dinner plates. A second later, the doors swung open again to reveal the Immortal Campers in their formal clothing.

Annabeth had walked up to the security guard, expecting the usual banter and arguing when she and her fellow immortals saw the guard's face.

They burst into laughter.

Oblivious to all, Percy, Artemis and his sisters went up in the elevator, listening to some Beatles song.

"Nice job Seaweed Brain. I loved his expression." Thalia said, leaning against Percy's side.

"Yeah! I don't know who he is, but that was funny!" Tracy said, standing in front of Percy so she could lean into him.

Percy chuckled as he lightly ruffled Tracy's hair.

"Was that really necessary, Perseus?" Artemis asked, turning to look at him.

"Well, what would you have done, Arty?" Percy asked, turning his head to meet her gaze.

She wrenched her gaze away as she fought to keep her emotions under control. _Do I truly love him? Do I love him enough? Would he stay faithful to me? Or would he hurt me?_ Artemis thought as the same old argument that had been running in around in her head for the past week repeated itself.

She stayed silent, and Percy, while not picking up her internal conflict, felt that Artemis wished to silent, so he said nothing.

The elevator doors dinged open, and they filed out, stopping for an instant at the bridge as they looked at Olympus.

It was grand, mighty and royal. Since it was the ruler's wedding anniversary, there were lights all over the place and many citizens were already partying, even though the major party would be in Olympus.

"Come. Let's go." Artemis said, quickly walking over the bridge. The hunters followed, but Thalia stopped.

"C'mon Thals, you can get over this. Remember the Titan War? You easily got over this bridge. Instead, you were taken down by a chunk of rock." Percy said, half teasing.

"Shut up. I was in a hurry that time and it was an emergency. I can't. It's too high." Thalia said, her face paling.

"What I do for my best friend." Percy muttered under his breath. He transformed into liquid form, pooled at Thalia's feet, and pushed, knocking Thalia flat on her back. Thalia screamed, but instead of landing on hard rock, she landed on something much softer. Before Thalia could even react, Percy shot across the bridge at high speed, keeping a tight grip on Thalia. When he reached the other side where Artemis was waiting, he right Thalia so she was standing and reformed back into his human form.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it, Pinecone Face?" Percy said cheerily.

"Thanks…" Thalia mumbled, taking deep breathes to still her rapidly beating heart.

"Come on Thals. So long as you're with us, you'll be safe." Percy said, throwing an arm around Thalia and walking towards the throne room.

Artemis and the Hunters smiled at the bonding that Percy and Thalia had. A strong and close bond, but quite volatile. However, Artemis knew that if either were to be missing or injured, they would care very deeply, even if they didn't express it. She had known it the instant she had told her Hunters to search for him when Percy had gone "missing."

"Come my Hunters. We wouldn't want to be late for Lord Zeus's _fantastic_ speeches." Artemis said, chuckling. Her older Hunters knew as well as she did that Zeus's speeches were anything but fantastic.

As Percy stepped into the throne room, both he and Thalia froze for a second as they look at how different the throne room was.

Instead of showing the night sky, there were hundreds, thousands of little lights glittering above, while some twinkled and others constantly changed colour. The entire room seemed to glow golden with power as all the Olympians were now present.

"Brother!" Came a yell.

An instant later, Percy skidded backwards several feet as Tyson crushed him in a tight hug.

"Hello brother! I'm happy to see you again!" Tyson roared, his single eye shining with joy.

"Whoa man, yeah, I'm happy to see you too." Percy said, staring at Tyson in shock because for the first time ever, and perhaps the last, Percy saw a Cyclopes in a suit.

"You look great man. You have the package?" Percy asked quietly.

"Yes! Here!" Tyson said, reaching inside his suit and taking out a long package. It was wrapped in paper, and even though Percy knew that it was currently inactivated, he could sense the potential of power in it.

"Thank you so much Tyson. I owe you one." Percy said, taking the package and putting inside his own suit.

"No owe. We are brothers! I must go and meet with my other brothers, Big Brother!" Tyson said, giving Percy a last hug before bounding off.

Percy grinned and turned around, trying to find Artemis. However, he couldn't find her and saw a couple of his Hunters talking with various nymphs and dryads, so he decided to let them alone. He was about to head off in search of Artemis when he heard more laughing behind him. He turned around and saw the Immortal Campers.

"Hey everyone. What are you guys laughing about?" Percy asked cheerfully as he greeted them all with hugs.

"Well, Percy, did you really burn the guard's book?" Leo asked, giggling.

"Yeah. Why? Is it important?" Percy asked.

"Yup. Apparently, it contained all the names of the people who had crossed the door and who had gotten the key and all that. Which means that he has to write everything again." Jason said, grinning.

"Oh. Well, he deserves it. Annoying guard." Percy said, shrugging noncommittally.

The Campers laughed again. "Yeah, you should definitely have seen his face when we first walked in. Add a afro, and he'd look like a human sunflower!" Nico said, setting off another round of laughter.

"Yeah, well, you'd know about being a sunflower the most, eh Nico?" Percy said, giving Nico a bump on the shoulder.

Nico's smile dropped off immediately while the Campers laughed even harder.

"Very true. He also knows how to be a perfect rose, a tulip, a daisy, a abutilon, a barberry, a bindweed,-"

"Lady Persephone, please, I don't think they want to hear me about being thousands of types of flowers!" Nico yelled.

"Did I mention that he is also extremely proficient at being a dandelion?" Persephone added.

"AHHHH!" Nico yelled, dashing off in a random direction.

Everyone screamed with laughter as Persephone smirked.

"Hello Lady Persephone. How're you feeling right now? No sudden urges to, ah, jump into bed with a certain…flower?" Percy asked, grinning.

Persephone glared at him. "I'm feeling very fine now, thank you very much. And don't you dare think I still have feelings for you. All of them are _gone._ Get that? Or I'll turn you into a Dog Rose." Persephone said before walking off.

Everyone laughed again but they instantly stopped as a pair of slender arms wrapped itself around Percy.

"Hello Perseus." Aphrodite whispered into Percy's ear.

"Hello Aphrodite. How're your injuries healing?" Percy asked, reaching up and peeling Aphrodite's arms off. Or at least trying to.

"Oh, quite well Percy, quite well. Want me to show you?" Aphrodite said sultrily.

Percy gritted his teeth as his old friends looked rather uncomfortable. Except for Leo, who was struggling hard to contain his laughter. Percy stared into Piper's eyes and sent a silent plea. Luckily, she picked it up.

"Mom, can you please get off Percy. It's really, really odd to see my own mother trying to seduce one of my best friends!" Piper said.

Aphrodite shrugged. "So? If I had my way, I'd have you watch me and Percy so you could learn some tricks."

Jason and Piper blushed furiously. Thankfully, they were saved by Artemis.

"Aphrodite. Get off him, or I'll _make_ you." Artemis snarled as jealously burned deep in her heart.

Aphrodite sighed and gave a whimper.

"I'll leave only because I want to. Not because you tell me to." Aphrodite pouted, heading off towards her throne.

"Thank you my lady." Percy said as he turned to stare at Artemis. He still couldn't get over her overwhelming beauty.

Artemis nodded. " Take your position next to my throne. Father is going to give his speech." Artemis said, pointing towards her throne. "I hope he makes it short." Artemis muttered.

Percy nodded and waved towards his friends before following Artemis. Thalia and the Hunters were already there, with Thalia standing to Artemis's right. Percy took his position at Artemis's left while Artemis grew to her full height and sat in her throne.

Slowly, the noise quieted down as Zeus and Hera took their seats.

"Gods and Goddesses, Ladies and Gentleman, Immortals, Nymphs, Dryads and Spirits, thank you all for coming to celebrate Hera and mine's 3,000th wedding anniversary. As you all know, our marriage has been anything but smooth." At this, a light ripple of laughter went through the Throne Room before it died down.

"I would also like to thank our young Immortal heroes for rescuing my wife when she had been trapped and taken hostage. If not for their actions, my dear wife would most likely not even be here." Zeus said, staring at Jason, Piper and Leo before turning to look at Hera. Hera beamed a smile at him.

"I would just like to say that the partying is provided by Dionysus, and will last well into the morning." Zeus paused as everyone cheered. "Now, obviously many of you want to party, so I shall cut my speech short. To those who have gifts for us, now would be a good time to present them. Now would also be a good time to present any new ideas, since I am currently in a good mood." Zeus said. That set off another round of laughter.

"Me first!" Aphrodite squealed. She produced two crowns filled with the most magnificent jewels and made by the purest precious metals. Practically everyone 'oooohed' at the sight of the crowns.

"My husband and I thought of this together, Lord Zeus and Lady Hera. I hope you'll like these two. Much better than the ones you have right now." Aphrodite said excitedly, handing the crowns to them.

Zeus and Hera graciously accepted. "Thank you Aphrodite."

Percy waited as the other gods moved forward to present their own gifts. After about 20 more minutes of waiting, Zeus turned to Artemis with a knowing smile on his face.

"So my daughter, same as usual then?" Zeus said, smirking just slightly as Artemis squirmed.

"Technically yes, Father, but my Guardian here does have an idea." Artemis said, waving towards Percy.

"Very well then Perseus, what is it?" Zeus asked.

"Well, my lady also thought up most of this idea. I just…changed a few things in it and helped her run the errands. So my lady, get down here." Percy asked, grinning up at her as Artemis looked shocked, surprised, and gratified at the same time. She also blushed faintly.

Artemis nervously slipped down her throne and shrank to human size, walking by Percy's side as they bowed to Zeus and Hera.

"Lord Zeus, can you promise me that you won't go crazy and angry at me when you first receive this? Because I have a gift and an idea, perhaps a law that I would like to propose." Percy said.

"Of course." Zeus said.

Percy reached inside his jacket and pulled out the wrapped-up Master Bolt. Bowing, he handed it to Lord Zeus, who took it.

Zeus gasped as he unwrapped it. The other gods stared in shock and tension began to build in the room when Zeus took the new Master Bolt out of its wrappings.

"If I may explain, Lord Zeus?" Percy asked carefully.

Zeus nodded.

Percy took a deep breath and licked his lips. This was a delicate and tricky part. If it went well, then good for him. If it failed, he'd be fried and history.

"I was thinking about how split up the Olympian family is. And I was just wondering, what if married gods, they shared domains and powers? Like Lord Hades and Lady Persephone. Lady Persephone constantly complains about how boring and stupid it is in the Underworld, if she could utilize some of Lord Hades powers, she might actually have some fun in the Underworld. At least, some entertainment. And Lord Hades, if he could utilize Persephone's powers, the Underworld wouldn't be so dark, creepy, gloomy and just backing up the stereotype that Hades is a bad god." Percy said. He paused and took a breath before continuing,

"This is where the Master Bolt comes in. If you wish to instate this law, that means that Hera would have some control over lightning, and with it, Hera could ah, _warn_ all the mortals who break their marriage vows. And to keep the balance of power even, this new Master Bolt draws its power from your own Master Bolt, Lord Zeus. Which means that if you were to use one of them at full strength, the other would be powerless, so as to keep the balance of power fair. Also, if you do approve of this, if there are any more demigod children, the child will only get the powers that the god has, not shared, so as to make it fair for existing demigods. " Percy finished.

"This is my idea, Lord Zeus." Percy said, kneeling at Zeus's feet.

For a while, there was dead silence, and dread began to fill Percy's heart. Artemis herself was staring at Percy in surprise. It was a brand new idea, and Artemis marveled at Percy's cleverness. This proposition would be a revolutionary law, if approved. It would change the way the gods lived. Then Zeus spoke.

"This is a…interesting proposition. Hera my dear, this certainly concerns you. What do you think?" Zeus asked.

Hera was nodding her head almost viciously. "Yes! I definitely approve! I insist, husband." Hera said.

Zeus turned to Hades. "What about you brother, and your wife?"

"I see no trouble and no negative effects coming from this proposition. Because Percy has solved the power balance issue, I approve." Hades said. Percy swore that he heard Hades mutter under his breath, "Perhaps Demeter will stop nagging and yelling at me too."

"I think the idea is absolutely wonderful. The fact that I can actually play around in the Underworld, this'll be great. I fully approve!" Persephone said excitedly.

"Well, I don't! That means Persephone will be spending more time in that dark, dank, smelly pigsty!" Demeter yelled indignantly.

"Excuse me, but now that I have Persephone's powers, I can make it beautiful down there!" Hades said defensively.

"Yes mother, that's true. And besides, I have to stay in the Underworld for a certain amount of time. Would you rather I spend my time there happy, or spend my time there sad and depressed?" Persephone shot back.

That stopped Demeter. "Very well. I approve then." Demeter said, seemingly satisfied with Persephone's answer.

"And because it's Percy, I approve too!" Aphrodite squealed. However, she was staring at Artemis and Percy's kneeling form, her eyes glinting.

"Well, I don't know, I mean, I don't see any particular benefit…But I don't see any negative effects either, so I approve too." Ares added on the last part hastily as Aphrodite turned her most threatening glare on him.

"Nothing wrong with me. I approve. I think this would be a good idea." Hermes said, looking at Percy with approval.

"Well…like Ares, I don't see much benefit…but if my sister approves, then I approve too." Apollo said.

Artemis stared Zeus straight in the eye. "I obviously approve. Less women being hurt is always better for me. Besides, I stand by my Guardian." When Percy heard that, he felt his heart warm up before it cooled down when he remembered that Artemis still hadn't answered him yet.

"Well, I dunno. But since everyone seems to like it, I approve this new proposition too." Hephaestus grumbled.

"Aye, aye, same here." Dionysus said in a slightly slurred voice as he drunk another cup of wine.

"It is an excellent proposition. You surprise me yet again, Perseus. I am surprised why no has thought of this before. I definitely approve of this law." Athena said, giving Percy a rare compliment.

"I, of course, stand by my Champion's choice. I approve." Hestia said, smiling warmly at Percy although he couldn't see it, since he was still kneeling.

All eyes turned to Poseidon.

"Hey, don't look at me. Of course I stand by my son. I approve too!" Poseidon said.

"Well then, since the Council agrees," Zeus said, turning to Percy. "Rise Perseus Jackson. The Council has approved of your law, so I, King of the Gods and Ruler of Olympus, instate the law that Perseus Jackson has just proposed, into being!" Zeus roared.

There was bang and flash of white light. When the light died down, everyone stared at Hera in surprise.

Hera's throne now had lightning bolt designs around it, and Hera herself seemed to crackle with electricity. Small thunderstorms broiled around her as she smiled.

Even Zeus looked different, though not by much. He seemed a little less grumpy, and his expression was slightly softer.

"Here, my dear wife. I believe this is for you." Zeus said, handing the new Master Bolt to Hera.

Hera took it, and the instant she touched it, it sparked and crackled to life.

"Thank you so much, Artemis and Percy. This is just fantastic." Hera said. She seemed impossibly happy.

"Argh!" Zeus groaned, clutching his head. "Ahhhh, SOMEONE'S CHEATING!" Zeus roared, looking furious.

"Ah yes, dear husband. Now you and I can do things together. I believe the one you are feeling is currently in New York, around the Upper East Side place, yes?" Hera asked, smiling triumphantly.

"Yes, yes. And I can feel more." Zeus said. "I must blast him."

Zeus summoned his own Master Bolt and pointed at the ground, but just as he was about to blast, he put his bolt down.

"Hera my dear, I think you should be the one to do it. Time to test out your new weapon, eh?" Zeus said, giving Hera a rare smile.

Hera's smile got even bigger as she pointed her own Master Bolt at the ground and prepared to fire. As she charged up, everyone noticed that Zeus's Master Bolt dimmed down while Hera's crackled with a deep intensity. A split second later, she fired a blast of lightning, the recoil causing her to stumble backwards and making her aim go awry.

"Not to worry, my dear. I can teach you and help you." Zeus said, walking over to Hera and going behind her to hold her in his arms. The Olympians cheered and clapped their hands while others whistled.

For the first time ever, Percy saw Zeus with an embarrassed face.

"Everyone, the party begins now!" Zeus yelled to them all before going back to help Hera.

Everyone cheered madly as the Nine Muses cranked up their tunes, everyone listening to their own favourite music as they all swarmed around the tables, gathering refreshments while the Immortals took their pick of mortal and immortal foods.

"That was an excellent proposition, Perseus." A voice said behind him. Percy turned around, careful not to spill his drink of blue soda. He gave a short bow to Athena.

"Thank you, Lady Athena. I was surprised that Zeus agreed." Percy said.

"Well, like he said, he was in a good mood. I just cannot wait to see Zeus's reaction will be when he realizes that he's a God of Marriage now." Athena said, chuckling.

"Yes, my brother will either be very angry or very happy. I hope for the latter." Poseidon said as he stepped up next to Percy. "And look over there. Someone is already regretting approving the new law." Poseidon said, pointing to Ares.

Ares was staring angrily at two gods who were standing in a corner, making out. Percy recognized Aphrodite, but it took him a while to recognize Hephaestus. He was completely different. Now that he was a God of Love, he was extremely handsome, his previously twisted features completely gone.

"I have a feeling that we will see a sudden surge in Hephaestus children, and perhaps Aphrodite children." Athena said, smirking as she watched the two gods making out.

"Good. I'm glad. I'm tired of Aphrodite attempting to get at me. And what do you mean a surge in Aphrodite children? I thought she always had a lot?" Percy asked.

"Within the last few months, Aphrodite hasn't had any children at all. Probably because she was attempting to go after you. And Percy, I wouldn't say you're out of the hook yet. Aphrodite had said that she would stay faithful to you if you had accepted, but you didn't, so she's going after second best. So be careful." Athena said, grinning wickedly as she departed into the crowd.

"Perhaps after this party, we'll have some time for some surfing before we go Titan hunting, eh?" Poseidon said, slapping Percy on the back before he too departed.

Percy grinned and walked around, dodging Jason and Piper, who wanted him to judge who could dance better, and helping Reyna peel Leo off of her, the latter who desperately wanted Reyna to dance with him. In the distance, he saw Annabeth talking with her mother, so Percy didn't interrupt. Grover was dancing with Juniper, Nico was talking with a unknown female demigod and he couldn't seem to find a single Hunter.

Finally, just as he caught sight of Thalia chatting with a fellow Huntress, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. Again. His first reaction was annoyance, until he realized that the arms felt different and there was a pulsing heat radiating from the person behind. Also, his senses were going crazy.

"Hestia?" Percy asked hesitantly.

"Awww, how could you tell? I thought I'd fool you into thinking I was Aphrodite." Hestia said, pouting as she turned Percy around and gave him a warm hug.

"Well, I could sense you. You are my patron after all." Percy said, returning the hug. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well, I thought that you'd like to have a dance with me?" Hestia asked shyly, extending her hand hesitantly.

"Of course, my patron. I'd be honoured, except I'm not that great at it." Percy said, taking her hand and lightly kissing it.

Hestia giggled as she led Percy to an open space. _I can see why Lady Artemis loves you, Perseus. You're a true gentleman._ She thought as she began to pull Percy through the steps of a classic dance.

For the next 5 hours, Percy had some of the best times of his life. After spending an hour dancing with Hestia, he had wandered around again, trying, but failing to find his Hunters, while also keeping an eye out for Artemis, who seemed to have disappeared. Then he had spent some time dancing with Piper, Reyna, and Hazel before he again set off on his search for Artemis. All around him, the party continued as the Olympians watched with a certain amount of happiness and amazement at how kindly Zeus and Hera were treating each other.

Unknown to almost everyone, Chaos had watched the entire thing unfold in his palace, light years and galaxies away from Earth. Chaos shook his head in awe and admiration for Percy Jackson, who had somehow managed to do what anyone else had failed: Combine the Olympians together into a family. Chaos shook his head again. Percy Jackson had done the impossible.

However, unseen by anyone, hidden even from Chaos's all-seeing eye, an old, old man also watched everything unfold as he sat in his golden chair. The old man smiled ever so slightly at Percy Jackson's achievement. He was the one. The Chosen One.

Percy finally managed to get away from hordes of flirtatious girls who wanted to dance with him and continued his pursuit of Artemis. His senses weren't very useful, since the amount of energy would literally blind him is he used it. And about an hour ago, he couldn't find a single Hunter. Everyone he had asked had said they'd left at least an hour ago. Percy quietly pushed his way out of the Throne Room and into the streets of Olympus, experimentally sending his senses out.

To his relief, he could now sense and he could also now tell where Artemis was. To his great surprise, he located her a little ways off where he was, not too far away from the throne room. He quickly headed in that direction.

He arrived at a place that had a single bench and a water fountain. He saw Artemis sitting on the bench, staring off into space as if deep in thought.

"My Lady, is everything alright?" Percy asked quietly.

Artemis flinched as she was wrenched from her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yes, everything is fine, Perseus…" Artemis said quietly.

"Arty…Moon Beam, I mean, Artemis, I-I have something to tell you." Percy said uncomfortably as he sat down next to Artemis.

"What is it?" Artemis said, dread filling her.

"Artemis, I..um…" Percy faltered for a moment as he took a quick glance at Artemis.

"What? Tell me." Artemis said, taking hold of Percy's chin and turning his face so she could stare deep into his eyes.

"Artemis…I love you. I truly, deeply love you and…I have to know whether you do or not. Whether we can continue this or not. And I promise, I swear, that I would never hurt you. I will always be by your side, no matter what." Percy whispered.

Artemis let go of Percy's chin in shock. Not at the fact Percy loved her, but how deep his feelings ran. She could see the depth of his love for her in his eyes and she could feel it in his words. It scared her slightly.

"Percy…I-" Artemis stopped. Half of her was screaming to say yes, but the other half was yelling no. The half that was saying 'no' was the half that prided itself for being Artemis the Chaste, Goddess of Maidens, forever a virgin, never to be hurt or touched by any man. Never to fall in love. And yet, here was the man, the man who had touched her like no other, the man who was so loyal, so kind, so different.

 _Should I say yes, or should I say no?_ Artemis thought desperately. She loved Percy, she knew that much, but was she willing to give up something that she had stood by for millennia? And how was she supposed to explain to potential Hunter recruits that they must remain maidens, while she, the leader, was not? But her Hunters had already said that they preferred the family they were with right now… Artemis stared uncertainly into Percy's eyes.

"Perseus… I-I love you too, but…but I don't know _. I just don't know._ I mean, everything I've stood for…but I-I just wish…I wish we had more time. I wish…I wish we had another chance…" Artemis said woefully, her voice full of sadness.

Percy abruptly stood up, his eyes stinging as he felt his heart shatter.

"As you wish, my lady. I will not go back on my promise. I will always be at your side." Percy choked out, unable to stop the tears rolling down his eyes. He did a formal version of his special bow to Artemis, then turned around, extending his wings and getting ready to fly.

"Percy! No! Please, wait, that's not what I meant! Percy-" Artemis cried out as she struggled to stand up, to stop Percy from leaving her, her heart breaking at the sight of Percy's tears.

Percy turned around slightly so she could clearly see the hurt in his eyes.

"Good bye my lady. I will see you at camp." Percy whispered. Without another word, Percy shot into the night sky.

"Nooo, Percy, please…" Artemis cried as she sank to her knees, tears running down her face as she reflected on her implied choice. She had implied 'No.' And she had broken his heart.

Percy slowly flew through the air as he felt his heart being broken again and again. It was as if he were submerged under water, his heart ready to heal, only to be broken again as if a dagger had slammed into it just as it was about to be repaired.

The pain Percy felt, the emotional hurt was far worse than he had felt when Annabeth had left him that fateful letter. He had loved Artemis with every centimeter of his soul, he loved her so much, but he would never be with her.

 _Why does my life have to be so bad? Why did Aphrodite have to curse my love life? When, oh when, will I ever get a break?_ Percy thought brokenly as he wiped his tears away from his face. He struggled to find his bearings and found himself flying right over his father, and, surprisingly, Athena. For a moment, confusion and curiosity overcame his emotional pain, so Percy quietly descended down behind them and snuck up to listen.

"…is smarter than I give him credit for. Although it is possible that he became this smart after my blessing." Athena was saying.

"No. That's because his intelligence came from me." Poseidon said proudly.

Athena snorted. "Most likely from his mother. Since when did you have any intelligence?" Athena said, giving Poseidon a light bump on the shoulder

Poseidon chuckled. "True. Sally was very smart, and she was wonderful."

Percy decided to reveal his presence right there and then.

"Hey dad, hello Lady Athena. I'm surprised to see you two together, all peaceful and that." Percy said, trying as hard as he could to not sound choked up.

Poseidon and Athena flinched and they both blushed slightly, but other than that, they took Percy's eavesdropping quite well.

"It's not what you think. Your father and I have decided to put our differences aside and just try to find each other's good sides. We took the lead from you, when we saw how well you were doing with Artemis and her Hunters." Athena said.

Percy barely, just barely, managed to keep himself from crying and flinching at Artemis's name.

"That's fine with me then. But I just want to let you two know, if you two ever do get together in a serious relationship, if either of you break each other's heart, I swear I will toss the offending one into the deepest depths of Tartarus." Percy said, looking sternly at both of them. With that, Percy leapt into the air again, flying towards the Hunters camp.

Poseidon and Athena stared at each for a while before laughing.

"Well, he took that rather well, didn't he?" Athena said, smiling.

"Of course. He's my son." Poseidon said proudly. "He deserves a better life than the one he currently has."

With a heavy and painful heart, Percy flew to the Hunts camp and landed, kneeling on the ground to control his emotions as he took deep, shuddering breathes. He would just have to try to forget about it and move on. But he knew that was impossible.

Percy walked to his tent and pushed the door open, wondering why it was so dark. He was just about to snap his fingers to summon a ball of fire when there were loud screams and the tent burst into a bright light, momentarily blinding him.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PERCY JACKSON!" A chorus of voices sang out.

"Huh- what?" Percy wondered as he regained his senses.

"Happy Birthday, Seaweed Brain! Or did you forget about your own birthday?" Thalia said as she walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I forgot. Wait, my birthday is the day Zeus and Hera got married?" Percy yelped.

"Yup. I knew that the day I joined the Hunt. Now come on Percy, let's eat some cake! We've been saving some space in our stomachs for you!" Thalia said happily as the Hunters brought forth a large, blue cake. On it was written the words 'Happy Birthday, Big Brother.' Percy was deeply touched when he saw it.

"Thank you, all of you. Thank you so much." Percy said with heartfelt emotion.

"Not at all Percy. After all, you made us immortal, and Zeus still hasn't found out." Sasha said as she giggled.

Percy smiled and took the knife proffered by Thalia and cut into the cake.

As they all had a small party inside Percy's tent, eating cake and swapping stories, Percy did his best to keep up a cheerful visage, but he could feel that it was beginning to strain him, since all he wanted now was to be left alone to cry.

Thankfully, they almost finished the cake rather quickly as they left one large piece for Artemis to eat.

"Hey Percy, is it alright if we sleep in your tent tonight?" Elizabeth asked rather shyly.

"Yeah sure, no problem." Percy said, trying for a half hearted grin.

"So that means we can sleep with you?" Tracy asked excitedly.

Percy stared at her in shock before answering. "Well, if you're fine with that, sure." Percy said uncertainly.

"Yay!" The hunters cheered and instantly began to fight over who would sleep on Percy's bed, who would sleep in his chair, and so on.

"Alright sisters, I'm going to go take a walk. I'll be back soon." Percy said, standing up and heading towards his door. The hunters nodded as they continued fighting with each other.

Percy walked into the forest, deep in thought. He walked around aimlessly in the forest, reflecting on just how bad his life was so far and attempting to quell the pain in his heart. Why, just for once, couldn't he ever have a break? Why did his life always have to be filled with pits and troughs? Why did his life have to be so bad? He continued walking around for 10 more minutes when his senses alerted him that Artemis was near.

He froze and instantly ran towards the direction where it came, and to his surprise, a little ways into the forest, he found Artemis, crying. For a second, the pain in his heart stilled for a moment while he wondered why Artemis was crying.

He was about to step forward and ask Artemis what was wrong when his senses went crazy and felt three powerful immortal auras almost blast his senses to oblivion. However, Artemis was so deep in her sorrow that she did not notice anything, just continued to cry, her heart heavy over her decision and hoping, praying that she could undo it.

Percy looked at Artemis again and froze. Right behind Artemis was a dark shadow with ram's horns on his head, with glittering stars all over his body. Or armour.

Without a second's thought, Percy crashed through the trees and ferns, leaping and slamming into the shadow with a crash. Artemis whirled around in surprise and shock as Percy got to his feet and drew both Riptides, ready to stab downwards when he was suddenly yanked off his feet and thrown against a tree. The figure who had thrown him against the tree suddenly burst into bright light, momentarily blinding Percy before he allowed his eyes to slide back in their immortal form.

It was Hyperion.

Percy jumped forward, swing both of his swords at Hyperion, only to have it blocked by the other Titan. Percy twisted and slashed again as he recognized who the Titan was. Krios. Krios and Hyperion began to swipe at Percy, and Percy dodged and deflected them before he noticed that Artemis was still there, watching.

"Run Artemis! Run and get the Olympians!" Percy roared, dodging another blow from Hyperion.

Artemis still hadn't run as she stared at Percy.

"But Percy, you'll-"

"FLEE!" Percy bellowed, putting as much power as he could into his voice.

Percy's voice resonated with so much power that Artemis immediately turned and ran, running to protect her Hunters and call the other gods.

"Well Sea scum, it looks like you've gotten slightly better." Hyperion snarled as Percy blocked yet another attack.

"And it looks like you've gotten worse." Percy shot back as he parried Krios's downward slash and counter-attacked, drawing a gash across Krios's arm, right below his armour.

Krios cursed under his breath. "You're better than that Jason kid." Krios growled as he stabbed towards Percy midsection. As Hyperion swung his sword down at the same time, Percy jumped to the right and brought both swords down in a hammer blow, knocking both Hyperion and Krios's swords right out of their hands.

Percy was just about to stab Hyperion in the side when he was suddenly punched in the back, flying forward and tumbling to a stop.

"What the-?" Percy wondered as a deep chuckle resonated through the air.

"Ahhh, the son of the sea god. I will have much pleasure ripping you apart, Perseus Jackson." Percy turned towards the voice and saw a huge, hulking figure that had razor sharp claws for fingers and harsh green eyes. A sword glittered in his hands.

"Oceanus." Percy growled.

He leapt forward, engaging Oceanus while raising his other sword to block Krios's swing. Percy raised his hand and fired a blast of water at Hyperion, bowling him over and giving Percy a brief respite. Percy gritted his teeth as he blocked a direct strike from Oceanus.

Oceanus was much stronger than Hyperion and Krios, therefore he was much more dangerous. Percy swung his swords around and began doing the 360, forcing Oceanus and Krios back. Hyperion got up and jumped back into the fight with a battle cry, and soon Percy was fighting against three Titans, both of them locked in stalemate.

Finally, Percy exploited a hole in Oceanus's defense and ducked underneath his swing, then shot up and kicked him as hard as he could. Oceanus flew backwards and Percy locked blades with Hyperion and Krios before he disengaged and lunged forward, punching Hyperion in the face. He knocked Krios's blade away and grabbed his armour straps before he flipped Krios over. He lifted Krios up and kicked him square on the chin, sending him flying.

Percy whirled around, automatically reaching for a throwing knife but cursing as he remembered that he was wearing formal clothing. He reached down into his boot and took out a throwing knife, throwing it straight at Oceanus, causing him to yell in pain as it hit home.

With Oceanus out of the way, Percy summoned a hurricane and advanced on Hyperion, pushing him back and littering him with cuts. Percy was just about to draw a deep gash on Hyperion's arm when his hurricane stuttered and sputtered out.

"You're powerful Perseus, but not as strong as me." Oceanus said, spinning his sword and advancing on Percy.

Percy cursed and raised his hand, summoning a fire tornado around him, completely catching all three Titans by surprise.

"Well, well, well, little Percy here has learned some tricks. But it won't work against me." Hyperion snarled, snapping his fingers.

Percy gritted his teeth as he felt the energy to maintain the fire tornado increase tenfold. He let it sputter out.

Once again, the three Titans and Percy engaged in combat, once more locked in a temporary stalemate as Percy struggled to keep up his 360 stance while Oceanus, Hyperion and Krios fought to break Percy's defense. Oceanus and Hyperion were also using their powers to quench down Percy's own powers. Luckily, that also took some effort and allowed Percy to hold on a bit longer.

Suddenly, there was a tremendous burst of light and all 14 Olympians appeared, along with the Hunters and the Immortal Campers.

"Percy!" Tracy cried out, rushing forward.

"No! Tracy! Get back, now! This isn't something you can fight!" Percy yelled frantically. Tracy was instantly pulled back by a worried Artemis, but unfortunately, that distracted Percy.

Before Percy knew what was happening, his swords were instantly knocked out of his hand. Percy gave a cry of pain as Hyperion drew a long gash from his left shoulder to his elbow. Krios took the opportunity and slashed diagonally across Percy's chest, causing a splatter of blood to stain the ground. Oceanus reached down and punched Percy in the stomach before he lifted him off the ground.

Hyperion gave a cruel smile and raised his hand, a ball of powerful, hard light shining in the palm of his hand. He fired it point-blank at Percy as Oceanus released his grip at the exact same time as the blast hit Percy.

"PERCY!" Artemis screamed.

Percy flew backwards and slammed through one, two, _three_ trees before coming to a stop after plowing a deep trench in the ground.

The gods instantly advanced, but Oceanus, Hyperion and Krios reached down and pulled an orb of dirt out of the ground and threw it at the god's feet

"Gaea, mother of all, we call upon your power this once to bind them!" They roared in unison. To the God's, Campers and Hunter's horror, they were instantly wrapped and bound by thick tendrils of dirt. They struggled, but to no avail. Even Poseidon, the Earthshaker, could not move an inch.

Oceanus snickered. "Look at you gods. So weak after two wars." He turned towards Percy.

"Pah!" Percy groaned, spitting blood and dirt out of his as he rolled over, his body a massive bruise.

"Is the imprisonment of a single goddess not worth your life, Perseus? Gaea only wishes to imprison her, because she is a key Olympian. She will only be locked up and will be treated well. Is that not worth your life, boy?" Krios said as the three Titans advanced on the prone figure of Percy.

"Enough talk, Krios." Hyperion snarled as they got closer.

"Is this the best you can do, sea spawn? Is that all you got? Come, get up and die like a man." Oceanus growled quietly.

"You will never stop at just one Olympian or one god. I will take you all alive…or die trying." Percy said, his back turned to the Titans as he got to his knees.

"Because I am no man." Percy whispered, drawing both of his swords as flames began to lick up and down them.

"I. Am. A HUNTER!"

Percy roared as he whirled around, bring both of his swords in a powerful horizontal swipe, taking Oceanus completely by surprise as Percy's twin blades slammed into Oceanus's sword, sending it flying straight at Krios.

Krios hurriedly leapt out of the way and Percy stabbed Oceanus in the arm before he did a back flip, avoiding Hyperion's attack and kicking Oceanus in the chin at the same time. Oceanus reeled backwards as Hyperion charged forward at super-fast speeds.

Percy charged forward also, but sidestepped at the last instant and went back to back with Hyperion, using Hyperion's force and big mass to roll over his back. In middle of the roll, Percy saw Krios coming at him, so he drew Riptide back and let it fly.

"AHHH!" Krios roared as Riptide slammed deep into Krios's knee. Krios collapsed to one knee, his other foot useless as Riptide had basically shattered his kneecap, plus the flames were burning him.

Not wasting any time, Percy flipped his other Riptide so he was holding it in a reversed grip and stabbed backwards, backstabbing Hyperion.

Hyperion roared with pain as Riptide plunged straight through his lower back and straight his stomach. While the flames didn't harm him, just that amount of magical celestial bronze was painful enough.

Knowing that pulling Riptide out of Hyperion would take too long, Percy left Riptide impaled through Hyperion's body and leapt forward to take on Oceanus barehanded.

Oceanus lunged forward, incensed that Percy had turned the tables and swiped down at him with his sharp claws. Percy sidestepped and kicked Oceanus on the side of his knee, forcing Oceanus down. Percy punched Oceanus in the side before he stepped behind him, kicking him hard in the butt. Oceanus turned his head to look up at Percy, which Percy responded by smashing his fist into Oceanus's face. Percy then drew back his fist and did a powerful uppercut, causing Oceanus to fly backwards with blood stream out of broken teeth.

"You…will die horribly Jackson. I swear." Hyperion growled as he and Krios slowly advanced on Percy. Krios's knee was beginning to heal and Percy could see that Hyperion's wound was beginning to close.

"Yeah, I'd be scared if I weren't about to be attacked by two cripples." Percy said, taking a deep breath to recharge himself before he lunged forward, bringing Riptide down in two deadly arcs.

They managed to block his first attack, but as Hyperion swiped sideways at Percy, he planted both swords in the ground and shot his feet out, his body going horizontal, perpendicular to ground. It was the same move he had pulled against Artemis with great effect, and it worked here also.

Hyperion gave a cry as Percy's feet slammed into his chest with the force of a bullet train. He flew backwards, flipping over several times and crashing through a tree before he tumbled to a stop.

Krios gave a yell of rage and jumped forward, raising his sword and bringing it down in a downward slash that would cleave Percy in two. However, Percy kicked with his left foot, crushing his fingers against his own sword hilt. Before Krios could recover, Percy stepped in and grabbed Krios before he extended his swings, shooting into the air.

Krios screamed and struggled to break Percy's grasp, but Percy's grip was too strong. When they had reached a height of 600 feet, Percy flipped them over, setting his fists on fire as Percy began punching at every bit of Krios as hard as he could. They shot towards the ground at frightening speed as Krios feebly tried to block Percy's blows. As Percy saw the ground zoom up, he gathered his energy and got ready to release.

The instant Krios crashed into the ground with Percy on top of him, Percy released a massive wave of force and fire. It was so powerful that Oceanus flew backwards again, crashing through several trees while Hyperion was lifted off his feet and slammed into a tree. However, he instantly got up and lumbered towards Percy.

As the dust and smoke cleared, everyone could clearly see Percy standing triumphantly over Krios's broken form. Golden blood, immortal ichor leaked out of almost every orifice of Krios's body as Percy reached down and hauled him up.

"Any last words?" Percy asked.

"I will kill you, Percy Jackson. You'll die with a horrible death by my hands." Krios muttered as he struggled fruitlessly struggled against Percy's iron grip.

"Not today." Percy said, drawing Riptide and performing a stop-thrust straight through Krios's chest, cutting straight through his heart.

Percy saw Hyperion getting closer, so with his sword still impaled in Krios's body, Percy turned and pointed his sword at Hyperion before he shot a ball of green fire straight at Hyperion. The green fire ripped through Krios's body before it connected with Hyperion, causing Hyperion to spin around several times like a top.

Krios's body exploded into golden dust, his essence going back to Tartarus. Percy took advantage of Hyperion's temporarily broken guard and vaulted onto his back before he reversed his grip on Riptide and slammed it straight into Hyperion's chest.

Hyperion cried out as he stumbled forward, Percy jumping off of back and landing right in front of Hyperion.

"You lose, Hyperion." Percy said, drawing his second Riptide.

Hyperion only had time to widen his eyes as Percy slammed Riptide through Hyperion's throat, almost beheading him in one blow. As an added insult to a death blow, Percy yanked his other Riptide out of Hyperion's chest and stabbed it straight through Hyperion's head at a 180 degrees angle. Percy twisted the sword in Hyperion's throat, ripping off Hyperion's head so Hyperion's head was stuck on Percy's sword, like a shrimp being speared by a toothpick.

For just a second, everyone could see the gruesome figure of the headless Hyperion and his head before he too exploded into golden dust, his essence flying back to Tartarus.

Percy was panting heavily, but he turned to face his last and most dangerous opponent: Oceanus.

"Impressive, Percy Jackson. I must give credit where it is due. But all is moot. I will get Artemis myself." Oceanus said, raising his hand as a ball of harsh blue light glowed.

To Percy's horror, he was pointing it at Artemis.

"NO!" Percy leapt forward just as Oceanus fired. Percy tumbled to the ground as the blast hit him, pain arcing through him as Oceanus continued to advance on him.

"Get out of the way, boy. Gaea only wishes to keep Artemis locked up. She will not be molested, so _get out of the way._ " Oceanus snarled as he charged up another blast.

"Never." Percy said, getting to his feet and walking straight towards Oceanus.

Oceanus fired another blast, but even as Percy felt the pain of shock through him, he merely stumbled and continued walking. Oceanus continued firing blast after blast of the harsh blue magic, and each time Percy felt the pain build up higher and higher until he just as he reached Oceanus, he couldn't take it anymore and collapsed, his body jerking slightly.

"Fool." Oceanus spat, raising his foot and slamming it onto Percy's chest. He turned to stare at Artemis. "Any last words, Artemis?"

"Why isn't Gaea asleep? I watched Porphyrion crumble into dirt myself. We all heard Gaea's scream. How come she can be so active then?" Artemis asked, stalling for time as she uselessly struggled against the thick, dirt ropes. However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw tiny cracks appear on the ropes holding Poseidon, which meant that he must've made some progress.

Oceanus gave a booming laugh.

"Yes! Exactly! Did you really think that defeating Porphyrion would cause Gaea to fall asleep? She knew that was what you gods thought, so she played along. Don't you remember the first Giant War? I watched it unfold, back when you gods were stronger. When that hero and Zeus took down Porphyrion, Zeus spoke with Gaea and had negotiations. This time, Gaea didn't want negotiations, so she merely pretended to fall asleep, knowing that was what you pitiful gods thought of." Oceanus said, giving a cold laugh before continuing,

"Gaea pretended to fall asleep and be defeated for several months. She had many, many plans. How did you think Lamia was resurrected? How did you think Hyperion and Krios were freed from Tartarus? Gaea's power is great, and she was determined to wipe you gods out this time. Unfortunately, it failed, thanks to this sea brat here." Oceanus said with distaste, pushing down hard on Percy, who apparently hadn't recovered yet from absorbing so many magical attacks from Oceanus.

"Gaea has been awake for many years. How do you think she knew who to attack? Killed Leo's mother, and would've killed him, but the Fates didn't allow it. She almost woke up during World War II, but that failed. Didn't mean she was asleep. She was merely brooding and buying her time. Gaea made many backup plans in case she failed, and this is one of them." Oceanus said proudly.

"Unfortunately, pretending to be asleep inevitably leads to actually falling into sleep." Oceanus grumbled under his breath.

"But from the way things are looking, Gaea won't even need her last plan. I can do it right here, and right now. This was actually supposed to be saved for this sea brat, but you're an immortal, so it'll be more painful." Oceanus said as he summoned a ball of blackness in his hand. Slowly, hellfire began to flicker to life until it was literally bubbling with it.

Hades gasped in surprise at it.

"Yes Hades, you know what this is, don't you? You should be honoured, _Lady_ Artemis. It's incredibly difficult to make and takes many years to do." Oceanus said, his face filled with evil delight.

"Hades, what is it?" Artemis asked nervously as she stared at the ball of hellfire.

"It's called Black Death. It…destroys your soul, by burning it to shreds while the black magic in it will dispel it. Any mortal who gets hit by hit, doesn't go to the Underworld. They're just…gone. And because Immortals are, well, Immortal, it means that the Black Death will continue burning for eternity. It will fade out if used against Hestia or Hephaestus, but against any other immortal, incredibly painful and damaging. This is the first time I have seen one successful made." Hades whispered.

Artemis stared at in fear. _Percy…I wish I could tell you that I had made a mistake. I love you Percy._ Artemis thought sadly as she turned her gaze down to where Percy was crushed under Oceanus's foot. She looked on in shock as she realized that Percy wasn't there. Instead, a chunk of hardened water was there. She hastily looked away and stared Oceanus straight in the eye so as not to alert him.

"Well? Bring it on then." Artemis said challengingly.

"With pleasure." Oceanus said, smirking as he raised his hand.

Artemis stared at it defiantly, while concentrating on her last thought: _I love you Percy. And I'm sorry._

Oceanus was just about to fire the Black Death directly at Artemis when there was a blaze of green flame and golden ichor flew. Oceanus screamed as Percy Jackson slammed Riptide deep into his thigh before Percy tackled Oceanus, bringing both of them to the ground.

"Stupid boy! Do you want to die?" Oceanus roared as he ripped Percy off him and flung him against the ground.

"I will die for my lady." Percy whispered as he lunged upwards again to knock Oceanus down again.

"Get _off_ me, you stupid jerk!" Oceanus yelled, sinking a fist into Percy's stomach. Percy momentarily flopped off before he wrapped his arms and legs around Oceanus, doing everything he could to stop Oceanus.

"Raaargh, what are you _doing?_ " Oceanus growled as he began hitting and punching Percy with abandon, twisting around in an attempt to throw him off. "This is how you want to die?" Oceanus snapped as he increased the intensity of his attacks.

Percy didn't answer, concentrating all his energy to ignore the pain and just hold on. There was a burst of white-hot pain as he felt one of his ribs snap, and he almost let go, but he steeled himself to ignore it. Oceanus even scratched Percy with his claws, stabbing him in various spots and began to really pound him. But Percy still held on.

"I will never let go." Percy grunted as he extended his wings to further blind Oceanus.

"PERCY! Stop, please! Don't do it! I can't bear to watch you like that!" Artemis screamed, tears running down her face again. "Please!"

At Artemis's voice, Percy knew what he had to do.

"Stop. I'll stand down." Percy whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Oceanus stopped and Percy staggered backwards, blood streaming from his nose, his mouth from his head, even from his fingers.

"But I won't give up." Percy said, lunging forward and grabbing the Black Death from Oceanus's hands.

"I'm sorry, my lady." Percy whispered, staring into Artemis's eyes for a split-second before he thrust the Black Death into his own chest.

"NO! PERCY!" Artemis screamed, straining against Gaea's bonds.

Everyone, even Oceanus, stared at Percy in shock. For just a moment, nothing happened. Then everyone heard it. Slowly, a crackling sound began to emanate from Percy's body as Percy seemed to glow with a ugly red colour from within. Suddenly, dirty red and black flames burst to life, engulfing Percy as a scream of pure pain came from Percy's throat before it was abruptly cut off as flames burst from his eyes and mouth. The Gods, the Campers and the Hunters stared in absolute horror as Percy writhed and thrashed on the ground while tears were beginning to run down Artemis, Poseidon, Hestia and, surprisingly, Aphrodite's faces.

The pain that Percy felt was like nothing before. Even taking a dip in the Styx was like taking a walk in the park compared to this experience. He could literally feel the flames burning him, the black magic trying to do its work and expel his soul.

But it didn't.

Percy was fireproof, and powerful enough, with the blessings from his father and from Hestia, that the Black Death could not burn Percy's soul or body. When it realized that burning him was futile, it dissipated. Slowly, the flames died down, leaving Percy's body and soul unscathed. However, the ground around him was pitch black.

Percy gasped in surprise and shock at the sudden abruptness which the pain ended. Everyone else, for that matter, was extremely surprised to see that Percy was still alive. Percy groaned as he struggled to his hands and knees. While he was unharmed, the Black Death had severely weakened him, pushing him to his very limits.

"NO! How can it be? I'll finish this myself!" Oceanus roared, stepping forward and grabbing Percy by the throat, Percy's feet dangling in the air as he was lifted up.

"I'll finish you too, Oceanus." Percy said weakly as he summoned what little strength he had and reached into his pocket. Then he uncapped Riptide.

Riptide sprang to life, punching deep into Oceanus's abdomen and out the other side. Oceanus screamed with pain and threw Percy against a tree. Percy barely registered it as he flopped to the ground.

"You…you die first, sea scum." Oceanus snarled as he clutched his stomach.

He stumbled forward and grabbed Percy up by his tattered and damaged suit, then drew back his hand and slammed his claws straight into the right side of Percy's chest, punching through Percy's back and deep into the tree behind him.

Percy retched as he reflexively leaned forward, blood spewing out of his mouth.

"Ahhh, it has been a long while since I felt the blood of a Son of Poseidon run through my fingers. And such _strong_ blood too." Oceanus said with a satisfied growl.

Percy struggled to breath, seeing as Oceanus had just crushed part of his lungs on the right side of Percy's chest.

"Fuck you, Oceanus. Your wounded too, you won't last too long either." Percy hissed out, taking short breaths.

"Perhaps…but you are in a far more critical condition than I am, boy. And since I am about to kill you, allow me to tell you something that you have never known. Do you wish to hear it?" Oceanus asked silkily.

Percy looked past Oceanus with clouding eyes and saw that his father was furiously struggling against his bonds and seemed to move a bit. To stall for more time, and to regain his strength, he nodded shortly.

"You killed the wrong immortal. Triton did not kill your mother and step father. Or perhaps I should say, he _unwittingly_ killed them." Oceanus said.

Poseidon froze while Percy's eyes widened with shock.

"Yes, you are so surprised, aren't you? Let me give you a hint to who helped me the most. Why do you think I managed to attack and destroy your father's palace so easily, and so efficiently? How come I knew where he was, so I could throw the oldest and most powerful sea monsters at him? How come I knew what his plans were and knew the holes in his strategy?" Oceanus whispered, sneering as Percy struggled to think.

"Am-Amphitrite?" Percy gasped out.

"Correct. I would give you a reward, if you were not such a pro-Olympian. Amphitrite has been helping me all along. Don't you know, she _is_ my daughter, after all. She and I are the masterminds behind the plan to break you and your father. Did you really think Triton would have the guts and courage to work against his own father? Of course not, he was too weak, too puny. But not Amphitrite. She was angry when she learned you were born." Oceanus said, twisting his hand a bit and causing Percy to gasp in pain before he continued,

"Gaea and Kronos both knew who you were the instant you were born. They both knew that you would be the child of the prophecy. Kronos and Gaea worked out a deal, which was that if Kronos won, the Titans would rule the Earth while Gaea would have free rein to do whatever she wished, so long as it was reasonable."

"Obviously, I knew about you and decided to plan my own attack. My own way of hurting you. Something that wasn't physical, something _deeper._ You see, while Prometheus may be smart, he has dulled with his servitude for Kronos. Not me. So I contacted Amphitrite, and told her about my plan. If she helped me attack you, and help me attack Poseidon's palace, and if we win, she would rule the seas as my second-in-command. If we lost, Amphitrite would still have a place by Poseidon's side. So wisely, she chose to help me. Which is not surprising, since it's a win-win situation for her."

"She knew that Triton's help was needed to trick and drug Poseidon, but she also knew that Triton would never _willingly_ work against Poseidon. So she merely…seduced him with several nymphs and brought him to me, where I placed false memories in his mind and put a spell on him to do whatever Amphitrite told him to do. And any guilt Triton would subconsciously feel about tricking his father would get squashed instantly like a bug."

"As you probably know by now, Matthew was born as a bastard, and Amphitrite and I helped raise him up, or, should I say, Triton and Amphitrite helped raise him up by putting him in orphanages' and bad places like that."

"I will admit that I got a little impatient when you won your victory over Kronos, but there was no harm done. Doing it after the Giant War was even better. And while my plan failed partly, here you are, in my grasp. Fate has a funny way of controlling things, hm? And do you know what that means, boy?" Oceanus said silkily as he leaned in closer towards Percy, a snarl on his face.

"Which means that _I_ killed your pathetic mother." Oceanus pulled back and gave a deep chuckle.

Bald anger rushed through Percy's entire body, giving him the tiny amount of strength to do just what needed to be done. While Oceanus gloated over his victory, Percy painfully reached into his pocket and pulled out Riptide. He brought it forward as close to Oceanus as he could and positioned Riptide so that the cap was pointing straight at Oceanus's chest.

"And do you know what that means, Oceanus?" Percy whispered out, his vision beginning to blur as his blood continued to drain.

"Yes? What are you going to do? Spit at me?" Oceanus chuckled.

"It means that I will finally avenge my mother." Percy whispered, getting ready to flick Riptide's cap off.

"Huh? What do you mean, boy?" Oceanus asked, his face confused.

"This." Percy said quietly. With the last of his strength, Percy flicked Riptide's cap off, and Riptide expanded into its full form, once again piercing through Oceanus's body, but this time, straight through his chest.

Oceanus looked down in pure shock at the celestial bronze thrust through his body. Slowly, Oceanus raised his other hand, his claws glinting, ready to rip Percy's head off. But he would never make it, because at that moment, Poseidon succeeded in cracking Gaea's bonds.

"And I too will avenge Sally's death!" Poseidon roared as he crashed through his bonds. He summoned his trident, and in a nanosecond, he had aimed it straight at Oceanus's back and fired a blast of pure energy.

The energy blast slammed into Oceanus, connecting with Riptide, which acted like a conductor and sent the energy coursing through Oceanus's entire body. Oceanus opened his mouth and gave a final scream of defiance before he burst into golden dust, defeated by Percy's sword and Poseidon's Trident.

"That's for you mom." Percy whispered.

Then he fell.


	16. Chapter 16

**Artemis**

When Oceanus had gotten killed by Percy and Poseidon, the bonds holding the Gods, Immortals and Hunters together fell apart.

The instant her bonds crumbled, Artemis rushed forward to Percy as he fell face forward straight towards the ground. She caught him an instant before he crashed to the ground and gave a gasp of shock at just how quickly her arms and legs were drenched and coated in blood. Mortal blood.

Artemis gently flipped Percy over so that she could see his face and tenderly cradled Percy's head against the crook of her shoulder. She winced as she saw how many bruises he had, all over his face, his stomach, his legs, his arms, and… his chest. Or what remained of his chest. The right side of his chest was ripped out, and was bleeding so heavily that it was as if someone had turned on a sink connected to several gallons of blood. It was the worst wound Artemis had ever seen, and that was saying a lot, considering how many battles she'd been in.

And all because he wanted to protect her.

Tears began crawling down her face as she tenderly put a hand on his chest and tried to heal him. She was surprised when Percy's hand closed around her wrist.

"Artemis…" Percy whispered, his eyes fluttering open to stare into her own.

"Percy, stay still. I can-I can heal it." Artemis said, even though she knew it wasn't true.

Percy knew also. He gave a chuckle, or at least tried to, but instead it sounded like a choking gurgle.

"Arty, you know…as well as I do, that this is…a fatal wound." Percy gasped out, his mouth twitching just slightly.

"Percy, please, I can-" Artemis whispered quietly.

"No Artemis." Percy replied, just as quietly.

"Percy please…I'm begging you, don't leave me…" Artemis choked out.

"My time has come." Percy whispered.

"Percy…you can't. You can't just-just _leave_ me." Artemis said, and then, even though it was not an appropriate moment, she blushed. "I mean us." She corrected quickly.

"Artemis… promise me. Promise that the campers…the surviving campers…that have been through the Titan War…" Percy faltered for a moment as he took several shallow breaths, then he continued, "They deserve immortality too. If they want it. Please. Promise me." Percy said, his grip on Artemis's wrist tightening.

"I promise." Artemis said, tears streaming down her face. She heard some more footsteps behind her and an instant later, her Hunters swarmed around her and Percy, creating a ring of protectiveness. Right behind them were the Immortal Campers.

"Hey Thalia, Frank, Tracy, Nico-o…" Percy coughed weakly and tried to form his friends and sisters' name, but couldn't as he coughed up more blood and it leaked out the corner of his mouth.

"Percy… stop. We-we know." Thalia said, crying as she used the cuff of her sleeves to wipe Percy's blood away from his mouth.

Percy's gaze flicked behind Artemis and she felt Poseidon and Hestia approach.

"Hey dad…my patron…" Percy swallowed and gasped before he spoke again, a little softer than before. "Dad…Blackjack, his friends…"Percy stopped and choked again.

"Son, I understand. I promise." Poseidon said sadly. Artemis could tell he was doing the best he could not to cry, but judging from his facial expression, it wouldn't last.

"Apollo. Please, can't you heal him? Do something? Anything?" Artemis asked her brother desperately.

"I'm sorry Artemis, but I truly cannot do anything. The Black Death damaged him too much, he is…beyond repair, so to speak." Apollo said with genuine sadness.

Artemis was about to reply when Percy called to her.

"Artemis…"Percy gasped out.

As his sight darkened, Percy knew he didn't have many seconds left. Summoning the last ounce of his strength, he pulled his wrist out from Artemis's grip and reached into his pocket. Then he reached for Artemis's hand again, pulling her close as she closed her fingers around the objects he had taken from his pocket.

Artemis bent down until her face was a centimeter away as Percy whispered, his voice being hoarse and so quiet she could barely hear it.

"I love you Artemis and I always will…even you don't. Goodbye, my lady." Percy whispered, an instant before darkness closed in on him.

"No…NO! Percy, _please_ , it's not what I meant! Percy… please… NOO! Percy!" Artemis screamed brokenly as she desperately tried to tell Percy that she loved him, that she was willing to spend the rest of her life with him, but it was too late. His eyes had glazed over, while his grip on her hand had slackened, falling limply to the ground.

"Percy…" Artemis cried out, hugging Percy's limp body tightly to her as tears streamed down her face.

The Olympians surrounded her, with Poseidon and Hestia kneeling next to Artemis, shock and pain etched in their faces as they struggled not to cry. The rest of the Olympians stared down at Percy's broken body with shock, not knowing what to say or do.

The Campers were kneeling also, crying hard, each for their own reasons. Annabeth, because they had known each other for so long, Nico, since Percy had been the closest thing he had to a brother, caring and protecting him, even though Percy had almost beat Nico up when they had first rescued him.

Frank and Hazel because Percy had been their first true friend, Leo because he had always viewed Percy as an idol, a god-like person, Piper, since Percy had always been a close friend with her, giving her counsel when she was fighting Reyna for Jason, using his own experiences with Annabeth to help relate to her. Jason tried to hide it, but he too had tears down his cheeks. He and Percy had grown close over the knowledge that they had to bring the Greeks and Romans together, which hadn't been an easy task. Even now, the Romans and Greeks were still on uneasy terms. Even Reyna, usually hard and untouchable, was crying softly. She had once disliked Percy, hated him even, but had grown rather fond of him, admiring his courage, his bravery, his loyalty, and, to an extent, his foolishness.

However, none were crying harder than the Hunters, especially Thalia and Tracy. The Hunters in general were greatly saddened and tearful by the loss of what they saw not only as a fellow Hunter and comrade, but a brother, a family member, and the only male they would ever respect and love.

"Artemis. Give him the final honors." Poseidon said quietly, his voice sounding choked.

Artemis gently held Percy with one hand as she summoned the spell that would put him in the stars forever. Then she looked up into the night sky and saw Orion's constellation glittering in the sky. And she knew what to do.

"No." Artemis said, closing her hand on the spell, extinguishing it.

The gods froze in shock while Poseidon turned to glare at Artemis.

" _No?_ You refuse to give him the highest honors he could have?" Poseidon asked, his voice now quivering with anger.

"Yes." Artemis said, still staring down at Percy's body.

"And may I ask _why?_ " Poseidon said through clenched teeth.

"I will not dishonor him by putting him next to his terrible brother." Artemis said simply.

"What? Orion?" Poseidon asked, his face a mask of confusion now.

"Yes. You know what he did, Poseidon. So don't deny it. Percy does not deserve to be next to him. He deserves better. Much better." Artemis said, slowly standing up as she cradled Percy's body in her arms.

"But what?" Poseidon asked, also standing up.

Artemis snapped her fingers and summoned a stretcher. She gently put Percy on the stretcher and began wiping the blood and stains off of him.

"We will give him an unprecedented funeral. His own monument, his own temple where people can pay their respects for him, his own place on Olympus. The best we can do for him." Artemis said, wiping some blood stains from Percy's neck.

"We have never done this before-" Zeus began but was immediately cut off by Artemis.

"No demigod has ever done this much for us, Father. If you do not support it, fine. I will do it myself, to the best of my abilities, with or without your help. I owe it to him. We all do." Artemis snarled, her silver eyes flashing dangerously.

Zeus stopped, shocked that someone would dare talk to him like that.

"You are not alone Artemis. If you want to give my son the best, then I am with you. Count me in." Poseidon said, walking over to stand by Artemis's side.

"Obviously, I'm in also." Hestia whispered, also going to stand by Artemis's side.

Zeus continued to stand there, looking flabbergasted as Hades, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Demeter and Aphrodite went to stand by Artemis.

"You know Father, sometimes; there are things where you have to relent. And I believe that this is one of them. Perseus Jackson has done us a great service, it is the least we can do to give him the best we have. I too stand by my sister's side." Athena said, walking over to join the large group of Olympians, leaving Zeus, Hera, Ares and Apollo to standing alone, looking like fools.

"Alright, _fine._ Artemis, you win, _this time._ We go rest, and _everyone,_ be here at 8 in the morning. We will start the plans. Artemis, get a tent up for the Campers." Zeus growled, unaccustomed to losing. He gripped Hera's hand and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Ares disappeared without another word, while Apollo stayed. The other gods gave Artemis a comforting pat on the shoulder, while Athena briefly embraced her before they teleported off. However, Hestia and Poseidon stayed behind. Artemis turned to them with a questioning look.

"I would like to stay here with his body. I loved him too." Hestia said quietly. "I believe I speak for my brother also."

Poseidon nodded dumbly as he stood by his son's side.

"He may never have been an immortal. But now, his body will be." Poseidon whispered. He raised his hand and called up a preservation spell, to halt and stop the decay and breakdown that would inevitably happen to Percy's body.

A soft green-blue light glowed in the palm of his hand, and Poseidon gently touched Percy's forehead with it. There was a quiet rushing sound as the light engulfed Percy, wiping away small stains that Artemis hadn't been able to get off, leaving Percy as clean as possible.

Poseidon turned away, choking up again. "I will be back soon. I must tell my subjects where I am." With that, he disappeared in a rush of salty, sea air.

"I will help your Hunters and the Campers set the tents." Hestia said simply, nodding at Artemis as she beckoned to the Immortals.

Each of the Hunters and Campers walked over and touched Percy another time before following Hestia.

When they had left, Artemis turned back to Percy's body. With no one around, she carefully opened her clenched fist, the hand that Percy had squeezed something into, moments before he died. She looked at the objects in her palm. There were two. One was Riptide, and the other was a plant. She recognized it as moonlace.

Tears began streaming down her face again as she carefully picked up Riptide and examined it. She knew that Percy loved his pen very much, and would never have parted with it. The fact that he had decided to give it to her was just a symbol of how much he loved and trusted her. It also heavily reminded her of Zoe Nightshade, her former Lieutenant, who was now amongst the stars. She gripped Riptide tightly. She did not deserve it. Riptide would go back to its former owner, so that Percy would never have to leave his weapon behind.

Artemis bent down and tenderly brushed Percy's hair back, wishing for any type of reaction.

"There was another reason why I didn't want to put you among the stars, my Guardian. I don't want you to leave. I just…don't. I wish you could stay with me forever, Perseus. Forgive me." Artemis said brokenly.

Knowing that she didn't have much time before Poseidon came back, she bent down and kissed Percy one last time, wishing, hoping against hope that Percy would kiss her back.

"I love you Perseus. I always will."

* * *

Artemis had a fitful nap. For the first time, she had dreams. And now she knew what demigods meant by nightmares. Her sleep was frequently punctuated by Percy's last words, words that tore at Artemis and filled her with guilt, words that screamed at her in her sleep.

She awoke early from a mix of nightmares and dreams, along with the idea of giving Percy the grandest and best funeral the gods could do filling her both with energy, and with deep sadness, along with a deep pain. She slowly toppled out of bed and put on her clothes, which she realized with a pang, were the ones that Percy had told Aphrodite to make for her. Her very first set.

She lovingly ran her fingers over the silvery vine and nature designs etched onto her pants. She had always denied it, but she loved this pair of pants, the design was just spectacular. She forced herself to stop thinking about it, lest she break into tears again.

Walking out of her tent, she was instantly struck and surprised that Percy's tent light was on. She frowned and turned her gaze to where Poseidon was still sitting, right next to Percy's body. Hestia was there too, both Olympians merely sitting there, gazing off into space.

 _Then who is in Percy's tent?_ Artemis thought as she walked over.

Quietly, and not without a healthy degree of nervousness, Artemis pushed Percy's tent door open. What greeted her did not shock her, but merely made her smile sadly.

All around Percy's tent, sprawled in every place, were her Hunters. They had all squeezed each other into Percy's tent. Most of her Hunters were sleeping on the floor, Diana had gotten a sleeping bag out and was currently sleeping on Percy's table, Angeline had flipped Percy's wardrobe on its side and was sleeping there. Thalia and Tracy were both lying on Percy's bed, with Phoebe's feet resting on the foot of the bed.

However, it was obvious that they were not sleeping well, nor had they fallen asleep easily. Tear stains were easily visible, while Artemis could tell that the skin around their eyes were red and raw, from all the crying and rubbing.

Artemis turned away from them, deciding to let her Hunters sleep as much as they could. She would wait for 8 o'clock to come. In the meantime, Artemis walked to a higher point and stared into the sky, still dark, as it was early morning. The moon was visible, but it was glowing dully, and had a reddish hue to it. Normally, Artemis would try to control her emotions lest the mortals create more ridiculous theories, but right now she didn't give a damn.

Artemis stared at the sky and the stars, all the while thinking about Percy. What she could've done better, what she would've changed, what she wished she had told him. She was deep in thought when someone interrupted her.

"You never know what you have lost until it's gone…" A voice said behind her.

Artemis turned around and saw Annabeth standing slightly behind her. She raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry, Lady Artemis. I did not mean to interrupt or distract you." Annabeth said, bowing her head.

Artemis bit back a retort. While she did not like the fact that Annabeth had broken _her_ Percy's heart, Annabeth was still a maiden, and was, most of the time, very clever and knew what she was doing.

"It is alright." Artemis said, turning back to stare into the sky, watching it lighten up as morning drew closer. "But I must ask you…why? Why did you leave Percy? He is the best person there ever will be, male or female."

Annabeth sighed.

"To be honest…I do not know why…." Annabeth muttered. Then she took a deep breath.

"Actually, perhaps I do. I was…jealous and angry. I was suspicious-"

"You were suspicious of what?" Artemis asked, turning around to look in Annabeth in the eye.

"I was, well, I thought that he might have had a girlfriend at Camp Jupiter, or with someone else. I mean, he was gone for eight months, so how was I supposed to know?" Annabeth added on defensively as Artemis raised an eyebrow at her.

"That means you don't know him at all. He would never do that to anyone he…loves." Artemis said, forcing herself to continue.

Annabeth turned from Artemis, but not before she saw the hurt and pain flashing through Annabeth's gray eyes.

"I know. I should've known, but I didn't. I acted too rashly, and made too many presumptions. And when he went off for those five months without telling me, and, well, the night before he left, we didn't exactly part ways very nicely. And I got…angry. Fed up. Annoyed…" Annabeth trailed off.

Artemis however, found it weirdly interesting. More information about Percy, who, she was ashamed to admit, did not know all that much about.

"Go on." Artemis said.

"Well, I hooked up with another guy because…I wanted someone different. I wanted to be…normal. For once. No demigod life, no crazy monsters, just a normal, mortal life. And I wanted something completely opposite of what Percy was. At first, I thought I had found someone perfect for me. He was smart, he was a fast thinker, we shared the same interests, he was polite, kind, and always understood what I was trying to say. Added on to the proposal of getting to work on the Parthenon, which was always my dream, I accepted. I thought that I had finally found my goal, my perfect life. And for a while, it was."

"But then, I realized that it was the _differences_ between me and Percy that I loved. His unpredictable nature, the mood swings, his simplicity, just…just _him._ He was never boring, never bland, and it was always…exciting around him. Maybe I chose the other guy that time because he _was_ predictable. He _had_ no mood swings, and was always the image of a perfect gentleman: Helpful, useful, and polite. But that's what made him so boring. He was always predictable, I could always tell what he was thinking, and he never had any surprises."

Artemis smiled at this. Percy was never predictable, and she enjoyed it, she relished the unpredictability of Percy Jackson, she was _revitalized_ by it. Unfortunately, she would never have it anymore.

"With Percy, while I knew him, I could only guess at what he was thinking. I never knew for certain. He was always able to surprise him. And he's a perfect gentleman too, but in his own…way. Either way, it was too…late for me. And I knew it, although I wouldn't admit it." Annabeth finished, choking up as she thought back to how stupid she was to throw away Percy.

"I would not classify Perseus as a gentleman." Artemis said, continuing to stare into Annabeth's gray eyes.

"Why?" Annabeth asked. "He was always helpful."

"True. But gentlemen are shallow, stupid, disgusting, cheating boys who want to be a man. Politicians, so to speak. But Perseus…he was a man. A real man. A _true_ man. He changed the Hunt in ways I would never have thought of, in unforeseeable ways…" Artemis said, turning away as she felt tears beginning to well up at the corner of her eyes.

"I know. Percy has that… flair. Charisma. That field around him, that draws you to him. It works most of the time, but not always. You have to know him for a while to understand. And when you understand, you…love him." Annabeth said, a tear already tracing its path down her cheek.

"True." Artemis said, her lips quirking slightly as a smile threatened to wash over her face. "For several months, the Hunters and I…tortured him. Not in the literal sense, but I'm sure you know. But later, I really saw that he cared, that he really was different. But my Hunters, well, they did not. But in the end, we all fell in love with him. The Hunters loved him, they adored and cared for him. Even though it was always the other way around, with Percy taking all the damage…" Artemis whispered, her voice starting to crack.

"He was always like that. That was his flaw. He cares more about his friends than he cares about himself." Annabeth said with a weak smile on her face.

"But not everyone returns the favor." Artemis said, giving Annabeth a meaningful look. Annabeth flinched and looked away. "But if Percy had that flair, that attraction, then how come the Camp abandoned him? I just cannot wrap my mind around that idea."

"Like I said, it takes time. That's why all the campers who've been with him since the Titan War or before, they love him and stand by his side. The newer ones, they didn't know Percy all that well. Just heard stories, and then we were busy fighting the Giants, so the campers never had the time to know him. Never had time to _see_ him in action." Annabeth said, her mouth becoming a straight line.

"And so when a little brat comes over with Poseidon favoring and fawning over him, instead of Percy, the younger and stupid campers assume that the bastard is better. It is human nature you know, they're like sheep. They just follow the leader, unless they know better. That's why eventually it boiled down to two competing factions, one was the Percy Jackson faction and the other was the bastard's faction. The former one obviously contained all the veteran campers and quite a few younger ones too, because they wanted to be just like him. Others didn't believe what Percy had done, so they sided with Matthew. It was stupid. But it gave us the chance to weed out the bad campers though, so in retrospect, it was perhaps a good thing." Annabeth explained, grinning slightly.

 _In retrospect, I'm glad that you broke up with him. Or else I would never have come to love him, and my Hunters would never have been this united and so close like a true family._ Artemis thought, but she decided not to say it out loud.

"Perhaps. Although I would prefer it if he had not gone through all the pain that he did not deserve to get." Artemis said quietly.

For a while, Annabeth and Artemis stood together in silence, watching the sun rise up, occasionally commenting about Percy but mostly mourning. Then, as the time for the meeting drew close, they silently turned around as one and walked back to the Hunter's camp. As they got closer, they heard sounds and voices.

"He's gone, Jason. I loved him too, and now he's just…just _gone._ " Thalia was sobbing onto Jason's shoulder as they arrived. Jason was doing his best to comfort Thalia, although he seemed very put out and down also.

"I know sis. Trust me, I miss him already. He was one of my best friends too. He was, well, an inspiration." Jason said quietly as he patted Thalia on the back.

The Hunters and Campers looked up as Artemis and Annabeth walked in. Internally, Artemis flinched. All of their eyes were raw, red, and bloodshot, while many of them seemed to have permanent tear streaks on their faces.

"It's time." Was all Artemis said, nodding to where Percy's body lay on a stretcher.

Slowly, everyone stood up and followed Artemis, while Annabeth walked up to Thalia.

"Thalia…I'm really sorry for what I did to Percy. I really am. Please forgive me." Annabeth said, hesitatingly putting a hand on Thalia's shoulder.

"It's alright Annabeth. I shouldn't have slapped you. And well, since you and I go back so far, and probably because Percy being Percy has already forgiven you, I'll forgive you too Annabeth. On one condition." Thalia said, detaching herself from Jason.

"Yes?" Annabeth asked nervously.

"Don't do this to anyone else." Thalia said, pulling Annabeth into a hug.

"You won't have to worry. Because there isn't anyone else that could get within a million miles of what Percy is." Annabeth said, returning the hug.

They pulled apart just as a brilliant flash of light appeared around all of them and the rest of the Olympians appeared, as scheduled.

"Alright Artemis, this was your idea, so what do you plan to do?" Zeus grumbled.

"First of all, we do not let anyone else know. Not until everything is prepared and the funeral is ready to start." Artemis said, looking at each of the gods. They nodded in agreement.

"Second, Percy had a last wish. He wants all campers that were there at the Titan War to be made Immortal." Artemis said.

All the gods froze.

" _What?_ Those are a lot of campers… Artemis, that is folly, you know that we do not give out immortality like that!" Zeus thundered.

Artemis's only reply was an extremely sharp stare straight into Zeus's eyes.

"That is true brother. But if Percy wishes it, then we shall grant it. If you do not, I will find a way to do it." Poseidon said, standing up from his kneeling position and glaring at Zeus.

Zeus's gaze bounced between Artemis's, Hestia's and Poseidon's powerful glare.

"Fine. Whatever." Zeus muttered under his breath.

"Thank you Father." Artemis said stiffly. She turned to Hephaestus. "Hephaestus, you will be making Percy's tomb, out of the finest material we have. On the sides, we should have an engraving of every major monster and immortal he has defeated. Including Ares."

Ares growled angrily while Hephaestus nodded, smirking slightly at Ares.

"Of course. My wife here will help me too, since she has some very good designing skills." Hephaestus said with a deep pleasure.

Artemis was about to protest when she remembered that Aphrodite was now technically a Goddess of the Forge. She also noticed that Aphrodite's eyes seemed to burn and glow slightly, thanks to Hephaestus's fire powers. She gave a short nod.

"Wait Artemis. On the cover of the tomb, we should have a plaque that states Percy's title. Don't you think so?" Athena suggested.

Artemis smiled slightly. "You know me too well, Athena. Yes, we should. A plaque of the finest and best silver we have, while the letters can be engraved in gold." Artemis said, looking at Hephaestus with a questioning look.

Hephaestus nodded. "I can do that too. What should Perseus's title be?" Hephaestus asked, summoning a pad of paper and a pencil.

"That's hard. Percy did like, everything, didn't he? I know, we can call him Percy Jackson-Omnipotent!" Leo said excitedly, before cowering down and flinching from Artemis's cold and unrelenting gaze.

"Sorry…was just trying to help…" Leo mumbled. Jason and Piper chuckled slightly as they both put an arm around Leo's shoulder.

"Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Champion of Hestia, Guardian of the Hunt, Savior and Hero of Olympus. Bane of monsters, Slayer of Titans, Killer of Giants, Defier of Gaea." Hestia listed off. "I think that's a good title, no?"

The gods nodded in silent agreement, while the Hunters and Campers quietly voiced their approval.

"No." Artemis said. "There is one more thing."

Zeus frowned. "What's that? Isn't that good enough?"

Artemis took a deep breath before continuing.

"Love of Artemis." Artemis whispered.

Almost everyone froze. Each of the Campers stood there with their mouths wide open, while Annabeth's eyes flared and burned with jealousy. Most of the Olympians weren't much better either, except for the fact that their mouths just moved up and down, nothing coming out.

Unsurprisingly, each of the Hunters had an "about-time-you-let-it-out" look on their faces, while Hestia, Aphrodite, and Athena had a "finally" look on their faces. Apollo on the other hand, had a defeated look on his face. The other Olympians however, were completely flabbergasted.

"W-w-wh-a-aaa…?" Poseidon stuttered out, gaping like a goldfish.

Zeus's gaze was ping-ponging between Percy's body and Artemis, who stood there, glaring defiantly at anyone who dared to even stare at her.

"T-t-t-thi-s-s…" Zeus stuttered, struggling to find his words, "Wha-wha-wha…WHAT DO YOU MEAN, LOVE OF ARTEMIS?" Zeus bellowed, finally managing to speak clearly.

"What else do you think it means?" Artemis asked coldly.

"But…but…y-yo-u-"

"It means that Artemis was in love with Percy, Father. Isn't that right, sister?" Athena said, shooting Artemis a sly glance.

"Correct." Artemis said, smiling slightly.

"I-I-I know that! But-but-your-your oath! What about your promise?" Zeus bellowed again, absolutely and completely bewildered.

"I LOVE HIM! It is my own decision Father, and I will take it up with the Fates myself, if I must! Besides that, is there a problem?" Artemis asked coolly.

"Yes, of course there is!" Zeus roared.

"Which is?" Artemis asked, cocking her heading slightly.

"Uh…um…I…" Zeus mumbled, struggling to find words.

"Just as I thought." Artemis said contemptuously.

"Well, you-YOU WERE ALWAYS MY GOOD GIRL! NOW YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH A SON OF POSEIDON!" Zeus bellowed.

"As I said Father, I make my own decisions. Now shut up and listen." Artemis snapped in a cold and harsh voice.

Zeus actually stepped backwards in shock before his face turned red with anger as he opened his mouth, ready to shout. Thankfully, Hera intervened.

"Yes husband, it's really uncharacteristic for a God of Marriage to yell and get angry, dear." Hera said, draping an arm around Zeus's shoulder.

It did the trick. Zeus immediately relaxed and pulled Hera closer to him, even smiling a bit as Hera put her head on his shoulder.

Artemis gave Hera a nod of thanks before turning to Hephaestus.

"You know the order then? You wrote everything down?" Artemis asked.

"Y-Yes." Hephaestus said, still in a state of shock.

"Good. Remember to come to me when you are done with your design, or ask me if you have a question." Artemis said. She turned to Athena. "I will need your help designing a building and a monument for him, as good as any you have ever done. I will also need your help on making a shroud." Artemis said.

Athena nodded. "Consider it done, sister."

"Wait. I think instead of only a few symbols, _all_ of us should put our symbols on the shroud." Poseidon said, getting over his shock that Percy had fallen in love with Artemis. "He has helped each and every one of us. Even you Ares. So I believe that it is only right that we each put our symbol on his shroud, and burn it."

"That's a good idea." Artemis said, nodding her approval, "Does anyone have something else to say?"

No one objected, although Annabeth raised her hand.

"Yes?" Artemis asked.

"I would like to help design the building and the monument for Percy please." Annabeth asked nervously. While she was extremely jealous of Artemis, she still wanted to do anything to help Percy.

Artemis stared at her, pondering. While she wasn't exactly all that fond of her, Artemis had to admit that Annabeth knew Percy longer than she did, so she relented.

"Very well. You can help your mother design, but tell me what design you decide on." Artemis said.

Annabeth bowed and muttered her thanks.

"Good. Father, I will need you to clear out a large space right in front of my temple, and close to my palace. _That is a requirement._ " Artemis said in stiff tones.

Zeus opened his mouth, then shut it, then opened it again. He looked at Hera and then back at Artemis. Reluctantly, he nodded his head.

"Thank you Father. Also, when we are finished, everyone should attend." Artemis said.

Zeus snorted. "Obviously. He's a crazy famous, and wooed upon by _everyone._ " Zeus spat, obviously displeased that a mere demigod was more famous than he was.

"That is because he has done things that have never even been touched upon by any other." Artemis said stiffly. She turned back to everyone else.

"That should be all for now, unless some of you have something to say."

"I would like to help my dad. I really liked Percy too." Leo said timidly.

Artemis looked at Hephaestus, who nodded.

"Me too. With Father's permission, I'd like to go help pick out some jewels. The best ever." Hazel said quietly.

Hades nodded. "I will go with you. Nico too, since he needs to learn a couple things about hidden beauty."

Nico looked at his Father in shock before Hades snapped his fingers, teleporting away with both Nico and Hazel.

"Anything else?" Artemis asked.

No one spoke.

"Very well. Then dismissed for now. Any questions, take them to me please." Artemis said.

The gods nodded and most of them teleported away, with Hephaestus and Aphrodite already discussing the plans and ideas as they teleported away with Leo.

"Artemis, Annabeth, I will need you to come with me now. I already have quite a few ideas about Percy's…temple, so to speak, and his monument, and I wish for you to see them." Athena said.

Artemis nodded and turned to her Hunters.

"Do you wish to-" Artemis began but her Hunters already nodded, knowing what she would ask.

"Excuse me Lady Artemis, but I'm pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say that we would like to help with the design too." Jason said respectfully, indicating his fellow campers.

Artemis sighed quietly.

"Very well. Get over here, and we shall all teleport to Athena's palace." Artemis said as civilly as possible.

The Hunters and Campers quickly grouped together and with a single nod, Artemis and Athena snapped their fingers, teleporting them all to Athena's palace.

"This way." Athena said, leading them all through several doors before they came to a very inconspicuous looking door, which instantly led the other to think that it contained many, many great things behind it.

Athena opened the door, and they were led straight into what looked like a massive library and a command center.

It was a huge room, and an entire wall was covered with bookcases, while the other side had various maps, some had stickers on them, others moving figures, and one was extremely detailed, so detailed that you could calculate the distance between the Empire State Building and the pothole in front of it to the last picometer.

Athena walked over to a table and snapped her fingers, causing several scrolls to appear. On the scrolls were pictures of Percy in various poses, with various faces.

"So, what do you think? Just tell me what you want and I'll try to do them, or compromise and whatnot." Athena said.

"Hmmm, make Percy like he was during the Giant War? You know, a bit more serious, Riptide in one hand, Camp Half Blood shirt, and staring off into the distance?" Annabeth suggested.

"No. Guardian clothing. Dual blades, visible dagger and throwing knife belts. Keep his hair messed up, I like it that way." Artemis said.

"But Lady Artemis, I truly mean no offense, except Percy was a Camper much longer than being your Guardian and Hunter, so it would only make sense for him to be in camper clothing." Annabeth said.

"Perhaps. But there are so many campers and so many so-called 'heroes' that come from that Camp, it gets boring. It's not iconic. With Percy as a Guardian and Hunter, that's iconic. It's memorable, and it strikes an image." Artemis said firmly.

"Lady Artemis is right Annabeth. As a Guardian, it makes a statement. Looks better too." Athena said, waving her hand and creating an image on the scrolls.

"No. Percy shouldn't look like _that._ Give his hair a windswept image. His jacket should flair out a bit right there, and the chains are in the wrong position." Thalia said, jabbing her fingers and pointing to several locations. "And while you're at it, make it more realistic. His pants should go back a bit here, he doesn't wear his pants that low, his knife belts are in the wrong position, and he's got wing slits here and here." Thalia said, again jabbing her fingers into various places.

"Yeah, and his knife sheathes on his shoulder should be further apart. I know because I could wrap my arms around his neck without touching them. And his hair is a tiny bit longer here. His cheekbones are a bit more cut out, and don't give him a smile. He only smiles when he's around us." Tracy said, joining Thalia as she pointed to even more places.

"Yeah, and if his jacket is supposed to fly back, then his shirt shouldn't be that smooth. He's always a little rumpled back there. And here, his boots aren't _that_ short. And here…"

Athena and Artemis shared a glance as the Hunters all poured over the scrolls, pointing and making various marks all over Athena's original design. Their look said one thing:

 _This is going to take a long time…_

After several hours of talking, arguing, changing many, many aspects of Percy's picture, they finally managed to get Percy's image just right, by the Hunters and Campers standards. Artemis wasn't pleased that Percy had to have his dagger moved to the left a bit, but at least that allowed Percy to hold his swords with the tips pointing down towards the ground, which Artemis liked.

"Alright. All that is left now is to decide what material should be used to build Percy's statue and monument, and what his quote should be." Athena said with slight weariness.

"A quote? What do you mean, a quote?" Artemis asked.

"Well, all famous people should have a quote on their monument you know." Athena said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but Mom, the problem is, Percy isn't exactly known for being a poet or something…" Annabeth said.

It was true. Percy wasn't exactly the brightest demigod to have ever lived, and while he certainly knew how to fight and was quite intelligent, he had never said anything that truly stuck in Artemis's mind.

A silence fell over the group as they tried to think of something that would make Percy actually sound wise, instead of a fool.

"Hey…didn't Percy say a phrase after he saved you from the basilisk bite? When we were trying to find him? And you got angry, I think it was the first time you slapped him." Sasha piped up.

Artemis flushed with embarrassment. She still couldn't believe that she had treated Percy so cruelly, even after he had been accepted.

"Yes…I think it was "For some, only something or some _one_ worth dying for makes life worth living". Yes. I'm pretty sure that's what he said." Artemis whispered quietly, her throat beginning to constrict as she thought about just how true it had turned out.

"Let me get it down…" Athena muttered, picking up a pen. "So, it's 'For some, only something or some _one_ worth dying for makes life worth living'. Am I correct?" Athena asked.

"Yes." Artemis muttered.

"Excellent. So, what material should his statue be made of? And should it be as life like as possible, or like a god statue? Big and tall?" Athena asked.

"Godly. But his face should be as life-like as possible. Use solid marble, and if you can, use emeralds for his eyes. Color everything accordingly. Don't give him armor. As for his knives, I would prefer real knives. The sheathes and belts can be marble, but the knives must be real. His chains have to be silver also." Artemis said.

"Alright…" Athena said, beginning to regret agreeing to whatever Artemis said as she listed off a slew of things she wanted Percy's statue to be.

"That should be all." Artemis finished.

Athena nodded wearily.

"Very well. Now, what about his monument/temple?" Athena asked with a slight bit of weariness.

"I think his temple should be traditional Greek style, and maybe add in some Roman style too. The walls should be pictures of all his victories and famous battles, with every giant, every major monster, and every Titan." Annabeth said, becoming ecstatic as she snatched a scroll from Athena's hand and began scribbling.

Artemis bent over Annabeth's shoulder and looked at Annabeth's sketches, noticing the incredible amount of detail that went into her sketches.

"Yes. Like these. An excellent idea Annabeth, thank you." Artemis said.

Annabeth beamed with pride and showed it to her mother, who's eyes widened at the complexity and detail at it.

"Well…I suppose we better get started then, shall we Annabeth?" Athena said.

"Yes, of course!" Annabeth said excitedly, making some notes and already beginning to measure everything.

"Alright Artemis, we have a lot of work to do. We'll call you when we're done, or when we have more questions." Athena said, her eyes already scanning all of the various plans and blueprints that Annabeth was making.

Artemis nodded as she rounded up the Hunters and Campers, ready to leave when there was a burst of light and Hermes appeared.

"Sorry for the intrusion Athena, but Hephaestus wishes for Artemis to go to his palace for questions and designs." A very sooty looking and sweaty Hermes announced.

Artemis stretched her back and nodded.

"Very well. And I must ask, why are you so… dirty?" Artemis wondered.

"Hephaestus and Aphrodite are insisting that all of us gods that don't have anything to do help them. Especially Aphrodite…" Hermes said dreamily before he disappeared in a small flash of light.

"Boys…" Artemis sneered disparagingly. She snapped her fingers, instantly teleporting the Campers and her Hunters into Hephaestus's palace.

Hephaestus…what questions do you have?" Artemis asked before coughing. She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. Before, the very few times she had been here, it had a heavy metal smell. Now, it smelled like a perfume shop, filled with cologne and the disgusting smell of men's aftershave.

"What the _Hades_ is this ridiculous smell?" Artemis exclaimed as her Hunters and the Campers struggled to maintain straight faces. Even Piper was wrinkling her nose.

"What's wrong Artemis? Smells perfectly fine here." Hephaestus boomed out.

Artemis resisted the urge to snort, since that would mean she'd inhale more of the unbearable perfume in this room. She quietly vowed to make this as fast as possible.

"Whatever. Just tell me what your problem is." Artemis growled.

"Well _Arty,_ we've got the basic design for his tomb done, but there are _quite_ a few details to go into. Some we'll ask Athena, but you did _want_ to do the design, didn't you?" Aphrodite said sultrily.

Artemis's eyes flared with anger and pain.

"Don't you _dare_ call me… A-Arty." Artemis choked out in a tone so cold that everyone flinched and shivered at it. Even Aphrodite seemed frightened.

"Alright, alright. I won't. Now, can you please tell us where you want his plaque located, how large, and what type of designs we should do? Should it be plain? Should it be simple? Or should it be flamboyant and outrageously awesome?" Aphrodite suggested.

"His plaque? Put it on the tomb cover, near the top. And his tomb shouldn't be too fancy, because Percy was never the show off type." Artemis said.

"He was never the show off type? What do you mean? He was amazing Artemis, that wonderful body of his, those fascinating eyes, his hair, and don't tell me you already forgot about how graceful and deadly he looked while wielding those-"

"I. HAVE. NOT. FORGOTTEN, APHRODITE!" Artemis screamed as tears of pain gathered at the corners of her eyes and anger rushed through her body. For a split second, she burst into her true form before she managed to get herself under control.

"OK, I'm sorry Artemis." Aphrodite whispered as the Campers and even the Hunters cowered backwards from the energy radiating from Artemis. "Also, if you're comfortable talking, we need a couple stories about Percy when he was a Guardian of your Hunt. So we can put them on the side of his tomb. It's a tradition, you know."

"Fine…what do you want to know?" Artemis growled, discreetly wiping her eyes.

"Well, explain to us what he did? How did he look doing it? His fights? His battle with Lamia? Protecting the Hunt?" Aphrodite listed off.

"You already know Aphrodite, since you've been "spying" on Percy ever since he brought Tracy." Artemis said.

"Well, um, uh," Aphrodite stuttered, looking seriously flustered, "You still had hands-on experiences, so could you please tell us?"

"I will. But later. What else do you want to know?" Artemis asked.

"The designs. How big? Do you want it to fit him perfect? Do you want wrappings? Cushioning inside the tomb, or just plain stuff? Marble? Celestial Bronze? Imperial Gold? What color should the tomb be?" Aphrodite listed off in rapid succession.

Artemis groaned.

"I have no idea. I'm not a designer, you're the designer. Why don't you do what you think is best?" Artemis wearily.

She regretted saying the words instantly. Aphrodite's eyes instantly gleamed and lit up with almost evil intent as a small smile graced her beautiful features.

"As you wish, my lady." Aphrodite whispered quietly, smirking slightly, her eyes narrowed as she looked at Artemis. "Then let's get started with the stories, shall we?" Aphrodite said in a voice that was beginning to make Artemis fell uncomfortable.

"Alright." Artemis said nervously.

"Follow me then." Aphrodite said. Then she turned to Hephaestus. "Husband dear, I think you know what I'm thinking, hm?" Aphrodite said, tapping her head.

"Of course dear." Hephaestus said, turning around to his table and beginning to jot down some notes.

"Now, come on Artemis. Your Hunters also, and the Campers, since they've probably seen a lot of things too." Aphrodite said, turning around and heading towards a door.

Artemis and the others started to follow, when another burst of light lit up the room.

"Artemis, my daughter. I need you to come here and decide on where you wish to have Percy's monument placed. I have secured and cleared out several places, and obviously it is imperative that you choose where." Zeus's voice boomed out as the light cleared to reveal Zeus and Hera standing side by side.

Artemis opened her mouth to answer when another burst of light filled the room before clearing to reveal Hermes.

"Artemis, Athena requests that you go back to her palace because she has some very important questions about Percy's statue." Hermes announced.

Artemis turned towards Hermes, ready to tell him when yet _another_ burst of light filled the room, this time to reveal Hades.

"Artemis, I would like it if you could come down to my palace to see which jewels you would think fit Percy's tomb the best?" Hades asked.

Artemis groaned as Zeus, Hermes and Hades looked at each other with amused expressions.

 _This is going to take a long time…_ Artemis thought wearily.  
_

* * *

"How long does it take for two gods to get a tomb over here?" Thalia asked, rather impatiently.

They were currently at the Hunters Camp, along with the Campers and Olympians, waiting for Aphrodite and Hephaestus to bring out their "masterpiece".

For one week, each and every Olympian literally worked nonstop to make the greatest funeral ever for the greatest hero to have ever lived.

Athena and Annabeth, along with a slew of workers, worked almost 24/7 to make Percy's monument and statue as perfect as ever, striving to make sure that each little detail was done, every curve was a perfect curve, every line that was supposed to be straight was as straight as straight could be, and, according to Artemis's request, as life-like as possible.

Aphrodite and Hephaestus had, after getting the information they needed, completely barred anyone from entering their house, since Aphrodite said that what she and her husband were planning was going to be "epic". All everyone knew was that the noise and movement coming from Hephaestus's palace never stopped.

Even Zeus himself was helping out, often relocating Percy's monument-to-be place to even better and better locations, and even helping Athena out with the construction of it. Poseidon pitched in too, using his water powers to smooth down the stones to the exact curve and shape Athena wanted, to give the rocks a very smooth feeling, a feeling that could not be achieved by any amount of sanding or through the use of tools.

Hades, Hazel and Nico had spent days picking out the finest jewels they could find in the depths of the Underworld, thus, Percy had the finest emeralds in the world for his eyes, and his tomb had many fabulous jewels.

Due to the amount of energy need to prepare and plan, Artemis mostly managed to keep herself together, although there were times when she would retire to her own room in her palace and break down, though it didn't stop her from striving to give Percy the best she could.

After one week of intense hard work, they had finally finished everything and were completely ready to set the grandest and best funeral into action.

"Patience, Thalia." Was all Artemis said, even though she too was impatient and she could feel that her feelings were in turmoil.

Barely had the words left her mouth when a flash of light lit up the clearing like a miniature sun.

"Oh sheesh, this is so heavy." Aphrodite's voice panted out.

The light faded to reveal both Hephaestus and Aphrodite struggling a bit to maintain their hold on Percy's tomb. Everyone's eyes widened at it as they let it down onto the ground with a thud.

Instead of being pure white like Artemis had expected, the tomb was pure, glossy black. Along the entire sides of the tomb, waves and lines of pure gold ran from front to back. The gold was shaped like waves from an ocean, along with nature designs, such as leaves and vines twining and intertwining around and around. Between the nature designs and waves, Artemis could make out little battle scenes that Percy had been in, including one she recognized as the Chimera and the Hydra.

On the cover of the tomb, a large plaque made of pure silver contained the words and phrases Artemis and Hestia had decided on, engraved in pure gold.

 _Perseus Jackson_

 _Son of Poseidon, Champion of Hestia, Guardian of the Hunt._

 _Bane of all monsters, Slayer of Titans, Killer of Giants, Defier of Gaea._

 _Love of Artemis_

Around the plaque were beautiful and breathtaking designs, all inspired by nature and the sea. This time, the designs were etched in pure silver, seemingly wrapping around the entire tomb, the sharp contrast of gold and silver against glossy black marble giving it an ethereal appearance. The four corners of the tomb were encased in solid platinum.

Artemis hesitantly reached over and lovingly rubbed her fingers against the words, ' _Love of Artemis'_. She felt tears beginning to well up again at the corner of her eyes, so she withdrew her hand, once again looking over Percy's tomb with reverence and a special pride, along with a deep pain.

"It's…well done Aphrodite and Hephaestus. Thank you." Artemis whispered quietly.

The two Olympians nodded, understanding that Artemis was unable to say more without breaking down.

"It is magnificent. You two have outdone yourselves." Poseidon said, staring at the tomb with the rest of everyone else, "Then we shall put his body in it now?"

"Yes. Athena, you have the shroud?" Artemis said.

"Right here." Annabeth said, holding it out in her arms.

Artemis reached over and took Percy's folded shroud and unfolded it. Everyone's eyes widened as Artemis unfolded it.

It rippled and flashed in the early morning sun like waves out in the sea, but what caught everyone's attention was that each of the Olympian's sign and symbol were on it. In great detail, and each was the same size, with no bias towards any god. It seemed a great shame to Artemis that they would have to burn such a masterpiece.

"Thank you Athena. And you Annabeth." Artemis whispered.

Athena nodded while Annabeth bowed. Poseidon silently picked up Percy's body while Artemis and Hestia both removed the cover to Percy's tomb. Inside, it contained opulent cushions along with more wave and nature designs, all of them etched with pure silver.

Poseidon walked over and was about to gently lay Percy's body into the tomb when an old and powerful voice cracked out.

"No."

Everyone jerked in surprise and whirled around as one. The person who had spoken was an extremely old lady, and two more old ladies accompanied her. One carried a super-sized pair of scissors which looked like pruning shears, one carried a large bag of threading, and another one was constantly knitting.

The Fates.

"What do you mean, 'No'?" Artemis asked, rather dangerously.

The other Olympians looked at Artemis nervously, since the Fates had immense power and were known to be _extremely_ tetchy.

"We will take his body, and give him his final rites. He is more than worthy for it." The Fate who had spoken, Clotho, said in a flat voice.

"Why take so long then? Why did you not come earlier?" Artemis said, her voice strained.

"Does it matter? You can still give him a proper send off with such a grand and royal tomb. It's the gesture that counts, does it not?" Clotho replied, her voice beginning to hold a light trace of anger.

Artemis's eyes flared with anger. She didn't care whether the Fates were angry at her. _She_ was absolutely _pissed_ at them. How could they kill Percy? How could they separate her from him? How _dare_ they come here and physically take _her_ Percy away when he was already gone? She opened her mouth, ready to give a rude retort when Zeus stepped next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Daughter. Please. Let them have his body, it is a great honor, and we can still honor Percy with the tomb and our shroud." Zeus said, knowing that to mess with the Fates and anger them was like signing your death warrant.

Artemis glared at Zeus, then turned to stare angrily at Clotho. The old lady stared back calmly and coldly.

"Fine." Artemis spat angrily, turning away from them as tears threatened to overwhelm her.

"We will let you say your blessings. Take your time, but we _will_ take his body." Cloth said. Without another word, the Three Fates disappeared.

Poseidon put Percy back on his stretcher with a shocked expression. This would be the last time he would ever see Percy's face again, and the last time he would ever be next to him. Percy would be gone from him…forever.

"You are the best son a father could ever have, Perseus. Words cannot express how proud I am of you, and, well, I love you son. Goodbye my son, and rest in peace." Poseidon whispered, a tear unwillingly trickling down his face.

Hermes was next. He gently laid a hand on Percy's forehead. "You were also like a son to me Perseus. Thank you for everything you've done, for me and for us. Rest in peace." Hermes said, moving off to stand by Poseidon's side, giving Poseidon a comforting clap on the shoulder.

"Well…what am I supposed to say, Perry?" Dionysus began. Artemis growled and Dionysus flinched. "OK, OK, Percy. Well, I suppose I was wrong about you. You aren't like the other heroes. Rest in peace and all that stuff." Dionysus said, walking over to stand by Hermes, not meeting Artemis's nor Poseidon's gaze.

Aphrodite went up right after Hermes. "I'll miss you Percy. I'm sure that we would've had a wonderful time together, but I guess we won't have that chance. Maybe your next life." Aphrodite said. Then she discreetly glanced backwards at Hephaestus, who was currently in a conversation with Apollo. Aphrodite bent down closer to Percy and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I love you Percy. I really do. And I would've been completely faithful to you, if only we could've gotten together. And thank you for all you have done for me, even if you didn't mean to help me. Rest in peace, Percy Jackson." Aphrodite said in a dead serious tone. She wiped her eyes and went to stand beside Hermes.

Hephaestus went up after Aphrodite, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Percy Jackson, while I think of you as an upstart, you have my respect and gratitude for everything you have achieved and accomplished. Rest in peace, young hero." Hephaestus said quietly, gently touching Percy's forehead before walking to Aphrodite's side and taking her hand.

Apollo walked up with a slightly shameful expression, nervously glancing at his sister, who glared at him angrily. He gulped as he stood in front of Percy's body.

"Um…Percy, I'd like to apologize for my earlier actions…" Apollo muttered. "They were outrageous, and I shouldn't have jumped the bandwagon. I now see that you are truly worthy of being with my sister. Forgive me, and rest in peace cousin." Apollo said quietly. He bowed his head and moved to stand next to Hephaestus.

Demeter went up rather uncertainly, which wasn't surprising, since the two had never really had any contact before, other than Demeter telling Percy that he needed cereal.

"Well young man, I really don't have anything to say. I suppose I should thank you that my daughter Persephone will now be happier in the Underworld. Rest in peace, and remember to eat cereal down there. If they offer any…" Demeter grumbled under her breath as she stood beside Apollo.

Artemis glared at Demeter but let it pass as Hades himself walked up to Percy's body.

"Percy Jackson…for perhaps the first time, I grudge and regret such a great soul entering my realm. _Especially_ the soul of my brother. You were and are a great hero Perseus, and you truly have my gratitude and respect. Rest in peace, my young nephew." Hades said, gently touching Percy's forehead before he turned around. "Wherever you may be." Hades whispered under his breath, so quietly that no one heard him.

Hera detached herself from Zeus's side and went to stand next to Percy's body.

"Well Percy, what can I say? You are a true hero, although you certainly aren't the easiest or nicest to work with. You have my blessing, Perseus Jackson. Rest in peace." Hera said quietly before she turned around and went to stand by Hades, giving Zeus a strong look as she did so.

For maybe the third time in his life, Zeus felt nervous as everyone stared at him. Besides him, Ares twitched, while Hestia and Athena looked on with a smirk.

Zeus hesitantly walked up to Percy's body, glaring at Poseidon and Hades as he did so, since they too had barely suppressed smirks on their faces.

"Well boy… um, I guess that if it were not for you, we Olympians wouldn't probably even be standing here. I wouldn't have had my Master Bolt, we would be tearing each other apart years ago, Artemis would've been stuck under the sky, our thrones would've been smashed, and, well, uh, yeah." Zeus said, his face burning crimson as he realized he had been babbling. He hastily cleared his throat and tugged on his beard, extremely conscious of everyone smirking at him.

"So to conclude everything up… th-thank you Percy Jackson, for everything you have done for us. You have my grudging respect, so rest in peace." Zeus finished hurriedly, turning around and immediately grabbing onto Hera's hand. Poseidon and Hades couldn't help but chuckle, while Zeus glared. His glare disappeared however, as soon as Hera smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Everyone turned to stare at Ares, who gulped.

With slow, heavy, and shaking steps, Ares walked to Percy's body, feeling extremely self-conscious. He stopped and stared at Percy, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find something to say.

"Well boy, I never liked you. And I still don't. But," At this, Ares form began to shimmer and glow. When it died down, a big man in army fatigues covered in ceramic armor with a huge, massive, Gauss rifle slung over his shoulder stood beside Percy's body.

"But as a Roman, I admit that I respect you, and I will even admit that if we were in battle, I would consider and most likely listen to your orders. You are a true soldier, and all real soldiers come with a flaw. As Mars, you have my blessing, Perseus Jackson. _Requiescat in pace._ _" Mars said, bowing his head slightly as a sign of respect. He formally turned around and marched over to join the other Olympians._

 _Athena walked up, regret in her eyes as she stood by Percy's side._

 _"I was wrong about you, Percy. This is the first time I will admit that I'm wrong, but I do not harbor grudge, because you truly. I wish we could've had some time to know each other better, but we could not. You are every bit as worthy of an Olympian. Rest in peace, young hero." Athena said, touching Percy's forehead before she too turned and joined the Olympians._

Hestia went up next, staring at Percy's body with a deep sadness.

"My Champion, I have nothing to say, except that I am honored to be your patron, honored to have a Champion like you, and honored to have known and met such a great hero. Rest in peace, my dear Champion. I love you." Hestia whispered quietly, bending down and placing a light kiss on both of Percy's cheeks before turning to join the Olympians.

All eyes turned to Artemis, who glared back. "I'm going last." Artemis said simply. Everyone got the meaning, and Annabeth stepped forward, a tear already tracing a path down her cheeks.

"Percy, I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for betraying you and your trust Percy. I really am, and I wish against anything that I could take it back. But I will never forget you, never forget our times together, never forget what you did and sacrificed for me, and I will never stop loving you. Rest in peace, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said, almost choking on her words. She turned around and went to stand by her mother, who gave her a pat on the shoulder.

Thalia was right behind Annabeth, the way her eyes were scrunched up and her stiff movements indicating that she was doing her best not to cry.

"You're an idiot, Kelp Head. You're foolish and you're impulsive, you have a temper with no control. But," At this, a watery smile crossed Thalia's face, "You're also my closest friend, my dearest brother, my protector, and my hero. Love you Percy. Rest in peace." Thalia choked out as a tear slid down her cheek. She reached down and stroked Percy's cold cheeks just once before turning around and walking over to the group of Olympians to join Annabeth.

Nico followed Thalia, his black eyes a mixture of confusion, pain, and sorrow.

"Percy…you were like a brother to me too. You replaced and filled the void I had in me when Bianca left, and I'm eternally grateful to you for that. I'm sorry for the various times I've tricked and lied to you, and I hope that you will forgive me." At this, Nico's eyes flicked to his father's before his gaze returned to Percy's body. "Rest in peace. You deserve it." Nico whispered, bowing his head before he joined his father.

Slowly, the rest of the Campers and Hunters went up to Percy's body to say their final words, or confessions that they would never have dared to say in front of him. Artemis was therefore only mildly surprised when each and every one of her Hunters confessed that they had harbored a deep crush and love for him, and that Reyna had even admitted that she had fallen in love with him too. Finally, it was Artemis's turn.

With shaking steps, Artemis walked towards Percy's body, stopping right beside it. She collapsed to her knees as with one hand she held Percy's lifeless fingers, while with the other she cupped his cheek.

"Percy…I am sorry. I am sorry for the pain I have caused you, I'm sorry for treating you so harshly when you clearly deserved better, I'm…I'm sorry for everything. For rejecting you, for everything. I regret my actions, and I wish…I wish we had more time, another chance, another…anything. I am honored to have met someone as great as you, honored to have met someone as good as you, and I am deeply honored to have had you as my Guardian." Artemis stopped and swallowed hard as she wiped her eyes, summoning her courage.

"I love you Perseus Jackson, with all my heart. I am so sorry. Fo-forgive me." Artemis choked up momentarily before she forced herself to continue. "Rest in peace." She whispered, tears rolling down her face as she bent down slightly, giving Percy a kiss on the forehead.

Shakily, Artemis stood up and wiped her eyes, forcing herself to stand straight and tall as she stepped back. The instant she stepped back from Percy's body, there was a hum of power and the three Fates appeared.

"It is done then." Clotho said as she stepped forward, bending down to pick Percy's body up.

Everyone watched in dead silence as Lachesis and Atropos summoned a black shroud from thin air and wrapped Percy's body in it. They looked at each of the Gods, Hunters and Campers once, then turned to leave.

"Wait!" Artemis said, stepping forward as she reached into her pocket.

The Fates turned around, with Clotho raising an eyebrow. For normally emotionless and cold faces, that little movement meant tons.

"I…I don't deserve this. Riptide and Percy…they belong together. With each other. To the end." Artemis whispered, holding Riptide out.

Clotho nodded and Lachesis took Riptide from Artemis's hand. They turned around but stopped again, before turning back to face Artemis.

"I know you hate me and my sisters." Clotho said flatly. She handed Percy's body to Atropos and reached into her pocket. She took out a long thread, its color the exact sea-green as Percy's own eyes. Clotho continued pulling, until it finally stopped. She wound it around and around, creating a small ring out of the thread.

"We had neither part nor control over his death. He chose it himself." Clotho said, dropping the ring of thread into Artemis's hand.

With that, all Three Fates disappeared in a flash of gray-white light.

Artemis stared at the place where the Fates had stood moments ago in shock. Percy was…gone. Lost forever from her grasp. She continued staring as her brain struggled to comprehend Clotho's words.

We had neither part nor control over his death. He chose it himself.

What did that mean? What does it mean? If the Fates did not interfere, then how could he die? How- Artemis's thoughts were interrupted by Athena, who had managed to pull herself together the quickest of everyone present.

"Artemis, there will be time to mourn later. Everyone is already on Olympus, and we'll be late. They don't even know it's his funeral." Athena said.

Artemis nodded. "Very well. Then we will each take a bit of Percy's tomb. It's certainly large enough." Artemis growled under her breath. She turned to Zeus. "Father, you have your speech ready?"

"Of course. You know me better than that, daughter." Zeus responded. "Now, we really must get going."

Zeus motioned to the Olympians, Hunters and Campers. Following the instructions that Athena had planned out during their busy week, they moved into position, each of them taking up a bit of the massive tomb.

For perhaps the last time, Artemis saw Zeus take a spot that wasn't at the front. He was in the middle. Poseidon and Hestia had insisted that they take the front corners, with Artemis being in the center. Zeus had resisted furiously, but had practically caved in immediately when Artemis had lost her temper, nearly destroying several buildings that were surrounding them.

Artemis stepped between Hestia and Poseidon. Even with so many people holding the tomb up, especially with the help of gods, Artemis could still tell that it was very heavy. She vaguely wondered how Hephaestus and Aphrodite had managed to lift it and teleport it over with just the two of them holding it up when Zeus gave the mental signal to teleport.

"Demigods and Immortals, hold tight." Zeus commanded. As soon as the words left his mouth, the Olympians teleported together, greatly reducing the strain required if it had only been one god teleporting.

A second later, they arrived on Olympus, near Percy's unannounced and as of yet unknown monument and temple.

The streets were dead silent, which meant that every inhabitant on Olympus were all at Percy's monument, as per Zeus's announcement and orders.

"Father, Athena, where to? You never let the location out, how come we can't know where it is but everyone else can?" Apollo whined.

"Apollo, shut up. We're already heading that way. Or what, is it because you're too weak and can't even carry an ounce of this tomb?" Athena snapped, fixing Apollo with her piercing grey-eyed gaze.

Apollo flinched and whined like a puppy lost in the rain, but remained silent.

Silently, the Olympians, Hunters and Campers followed Athena's and Zeus's mental directions. Eventually, none of them needed the instructions, since all they had to do was use their ears, listening to the steadily increasing hum of people whispering and chatting amongst themselves. The closer they got, the louder it became, indicating that many, many people were present and many people were all wondering what the announcement was going to be, especially since it was taking place opposite of Artemis's own shrine.

As they got closer, Artemis saw a massive building opposite of her own, along with a god-like statue, both covered in a magical shroud. She immediately knew what was underneath, although she did not know what they looked like, since Athena had insisted that it be under wraps. As such, only Athena, Annabeth and a few of Athena's most trusted workers knew what it looked like.

The instant they stepped within sight, everyone, Campers, Civilians of Olympus, Sea Creatures, Nymph, Spirits, they immediately silenced, turning as one to stare in shock and awe at something that required all Fourteen Olympians, Hunters and the Immortal Campers to carry. Even though there was already a path ready for them, everyone backed up and continued staring as the Gods carried Percy's tomb to the front of Percy's temple, where a podium had been erected, obviously for Zeus's use.

In silence, and with a bit of relief, the Olympians, Campers and Hunters gently and careful lowered Percy's empty tomb to the ground as everyone watched on. Then they all stood together as Zeus stepped up to the podium, the crowd of people instantly quieting down as Zeus stood there. He looked around, clearing his throat, and began his speech.

"Loyalty, compassion, and faithfulness. Selflessness, obedience, and honor. Those are the traits and characteristics every Guardian should have. They are to show a never failing, undying and eternal loyalty to their charge, be the charge a mortal, demigod, an Immortal…or a Goddess." At this, a small buzz of murmuring arose before quieting back down as Zeus continued speaking,

"They are to be faithful in what they do, to be selfless so that they will always put their charge's orders and safety first. They are to be obedient when obedience is needed, compassionate in whatever they do, and to have a sense of honor. A Guardian is supposed to be a shield for his or her charge, to defend against all threats and danger, and aid in any way possible." Zeus said, pausing for a little bit before continuing,

"But that is what they are supposed to be. Many so-called "Guardians" pledge themselves to be a loyal and faithful protector; they "promise" to protect their charges at all costs. But many never do. They never hold their word, they would flee when their charges needed them most, abandon them in the most desperate of situations. But, as I have also learned, there are…exceptions." Zeus paused again, clearing his throat as he slowly surveyed the entire crowd, who were at once on tenterhooks and surprised, since Zeus usually gave long and boring speeches.

"Only one Guardian has ever met, filled and even exceeded the high standards that are required of a Guardian. This Guardian is a true Guardian; he was loyal to a fault, had complete faith in his mistress, and was deeply compassionate. He had a strong sense of honor, he was completely selfless, and was obedient…most of the time." Zeus said, his lips quirking upward ever-so-slightly, since Percy's "obedience" was well-known throughout the Godly World. "This Guardian is also a true hero, his skill with a blade unmatched, and his courage unsurpassed."

Zeus paused, looking down at his podium as he thought best how to phrase his next words. Meanwhile, everyone in the crowd was whispering amongst each other, all of them wondering who this Guardian was, and where in Hades was Percy Jackson? Then Zeus raised his head again, clearing his throat, whereupon everyone immediately silenced.

"A while ago, as I am sure many of the nature spirits have known," Zeus said, nodding his head towards Grover, "That there was a massive disruption in Central Park a while back. That was Hyperion escaping. Consequently, Gaea caused a disturbance in Tartarus, allowing Hyperion to free Krios. Oceanus, well, I don't know. But he probably joined up with them. And all three of them attacked Artemis, on the night of Hera's and mine wedding anniversary." Zeus paused, still unable to comprehend at what had happened. Everyone else couldn't comprehend it either, though they were more shocked at the fact that three Titans had attacked Artemis.

"Artemis would've been captured, if it were not for The Guardian. He saved her, fighting all three of them to give Artemis the time to come to us and call for aid. We went back as fast as we could, but they…trapped us. But, the Guardian fought them all. He defeated them, but…" Zeus paused, not knowing how to continue, as tension grew so thick in the air, a person could choke on it.

"He did not survive. The reason I called you all here today is to honor and mourn the death of our greatest hero and Guardian. Percy Jackson." Zeus said. Artemis braced herself for everyone's reaction.

At first, there was dead silence. Then there was an uproar, thousands of people voicing their disbelief as many stood up and looked around, as if expecting this to be a prank and that Percy would pop out of nowhere.

"NO! That's not possible! Percy CAN'T BE DEAD!" Someone yelled out of the crowd. Artemis and the Gods turned to see Travis and Connor both on their feet along with Grover, yelling, disbelief clearly etched in their faces. Many others were also on their feet, including Katie Gardener, Nyssa, the entire Athena and Aphrodite cabin, even Clovis was wide-eyed, shocked to such an extent that he wasn't even remotely sleepy.

Turning, the Gods were greeted by a massive group of women all standing up, shocked beyond belief. The Amazons. Each and every one of them were on their feet, while Hylla's mouth was opening and closing. Then she turned to face Reyna.

"Reyna! IS THIS TRUE!" Hylla screamed over the noise of many people talking at once. Even the minor gods themselves were shocked and pained, which didn't surprise Artemis at all, since it was due to Percy that they were recognized.

Reyna looked Hylla straight in the eyes, letting Hylla see the pain in them. She nodded her head just once. Hylla stepped backwards in shock, as if physically slapped, as did Kinzie, who was just dumbfounded. The other Amazons had been watching and fell silent, beyond shocked that Percy was truly dead, since they all knew that Reyna did not joke around.

Zeus raised his hand and everyone quieted down, though slowly and reluctantly.

"How did he die? How COULD he die? The War's over!" Clarisse hollered, still standing up, along with many Campers.

"The War is over. Gaea is asleep. But Gaea is powerful; a being like her does not fall immediately. And unlike the Giants or the Titans, she is cunning. She had backup plans, many of which were thwarted by Artemis and her Hunters, along with our Campers. And I am not lying, as much as I regret it…Perseus Jackson is truly dead. And…we built this monument and statue for him." Zeus said. He turned around and snapped his fingers, removing the magical shroud that covered Percy's monument.

There was a collective gasp of surprise and awe as they stared at Athena's handiwork. The other Olympians stared too, since they had never seen it, while Athena and Annabeth looked on, looking rather smug and proud of themselves. Artemis had to admit, her sister had made a true masterpiece.

Athena had proudly boasted to her that everything had been carved from a single, giant chunk of highest grade marble, because it meant that everything was together, no extra pieces to attach and disrupt the flow of movement. From what Artemis could tell, she was correct.

Percy's statue stood at about 20 feet tall, about the same as a god height. It was so artistically done, so smooth and realistic, that Artemis almost thought that it really was Percy standing there, striking a pose. If Percy had become a god, and expanded to his god-height, this is what he would've looked like. The skin on Percy's statue had the exact tan and color to what Percy's real skin color would've been, his jacket was midnight black, the end of it flaring out artistically as if a wind was blowing it backwards. The jacket was open, revealing a marble version of the shirt Aphrodite had first given him; pitch-black shirt with a faceless, bat-winged figure on the front with a small sunburst behind it, creating an aura of light around the figure. The words "GUARDIAN ANGEL" were etched in pure silver, shining brightly and emphasizing the blackness of his jacket and his pants. They glittered the silvery brightness of the various chains that Athena had put on Percy's statue.

The wind-blown look extended to his hair, as his hair had a look that indicated a wind was blowing in his face, pushing his hair back. What was the most striking thing however, were the statue's eyes and the replica Riptides.

Percy's eyes were glittery emeralds, hand-picked by Hades, Nico and Hazel themselves and approved of by Poseidon and Athena. They were the exact same sea-green color that Percy's eyes had been when he was alive, and Athena had even cut out the center of the emeralds and replaced them with obsidian, to make it even more realistic, although since Percy also had his "immortal eyes" form, it didn't really matter.

The two swords that the statue Percy held were at a relaxed position, the points pointing toward the ground, instead of the "ready" position, or the various variations that Percy had invented. Hephaestus himself had forged the replica blades, and there was no doubt in Artemis's mind that they were every bit as sharp as the real ones. However, she was quite sure that only the original Riptide was unbreakable, his other clone and these replicas could probably break, although much force and power would be needed.

The pedestal which Percy's statue stood on also caught her eye, since around the sides and base of it were silvery, leaf-and-vine designs, twining around and around. At Percy's feet, Athena had managed to make it look as if he was standing in water and the waves were washing over his feet.

Percy's temple however, practically rendered Artemis speechless. It was massive, and Artemis could barely wrap her mind around the fact that Athena had cut this out from a single piece of marble, and in such a short time. She immediately noticed that the styling was very similar to the Parthenon, which, she supposed, wasn't a bad thing.

The massive pillars that supported the triangular roof shone with an intense silvery glow. Artemis stared at in confusion, until Athena cleared it up for her.

"I covered the pillars with silver and a bit of gold. I hope you don't mind the change, but Annabeth suggested it, and I thought it was a good idea." Athena muttered to her as she continued staring at Percy's monument.

"It's…it's perfect Athena. The nature designs, combined with the sea theme, the wild animals, everything. It's perfect. Thank you Sister." Artemis said with heartfelt gratitude.

Athena dipped her head slightly, accepting the compliment.

"Don't forget that young Annabeth helped a lot too." Athena said quietly. At this Annabeth turned around and gave Artemis a weak and watery smile, tears visible in the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you for your help, Annabeth Chase." Artemis said quietly. Annabeth nodded and wiped her eyes as Zeus turned around to face the audience of awestruck and disbelieving people.

"We will be putting his…tomb to its final rest, and then we will burn his shroud. If any of you want to say any last words to him…well, you're all welcome to." Zeus said, waving his hand towards Percy's tomb and the shroud wrapped around it.

Almost immediately, every single being stood up as one, ready to touch Percy's tomb and shroud, to pay their last respects to the greatest hero and Guardian of all time.

Unsurprised, the Olympians, Hunters and the Immortal Campers lifted Percy's tomb again, ready to put it to its final rest, which was obviously inside the temple. In this part, Athena and Annabeth led the group, since none of the others had the slightest idea of what the inside of Percy's temple looked like.

Athena and Annabeth led the way, the rest following the Goddess's and her demigod daughter's lead. However, the instant Artemis and the others stepped past the impressive double doors, they stopped immediately, the magnificence of the inside of Percy's temple amazing even the Olympians themselves.

The first thing that hit Artemis was how bright it was inside. The interior shone with a fierce, silvery light combined with strong golden accents. It heavily reminded Artemis of her own shrine, where the inside was also all silver. What amazing Artemis the most was just how big the interior was. When she had looked at Percy's temple from the outside, she had been impressed, but it had never occurred to her that it was particularly big.

That all changed when she had stepped inside and gotten a good look around.

To Artemis, it had seemed as if Athena had combined ideas from the Olympian Throne Room, Artemis's own shrine and temple, and Athena's own Parthenon together. Massive pillars that were silver and golden in color held up the ceiling, which seemed so high that a god could expand to full form and have plenty of space to jump as high as he/she wanted. The ceiling was also very similar to the Olympian Throne Room, giving viewers a clear view of the sky above, which Artemis strongly suspected would show the stars and all the constellations at night.

Moving down a bit, the walls of Percy's temple were, as per Artemis's orders, massive slabs of marble, each piece engraved with various battle scenes and major events that had happened in Percy's life, the bottom of each picture had words that described the event. Artemis sharpened her vision and read a few walls.

Percy Jackson retrieving Zeus's Master Bolt.

Percy Jackson fighting Ares, the God of War.

Percy Jackson, Tyson and Annabeth Chase dueling the Hydra.

Where is Tyson anyway? And Ella? Artemis thought, but pushed it aside and continued to read.

Percy Jackson taking down Polyphemus and retrieving the Golden Fleece.

Percy Jackson taking the sky from Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. A pang ran through Artemis's heart as she was forcibly reminded of the things Percy had done for her. Holding back tears, she skipped a couple and read on.

Percy Jackson's triumph over Kronos.

Artemis turned around to look at the other side of the temple, but before she could, Athena reached over and grabbed her arm, at once stopping her from looking and shaking her mind out of the effect that Percy's amazing temple had on her.

"What?" Artemis whispered.

"You don't want to look at the other side. At least, not yet. Besides, we're blocking the doorway." Athena said, looking smug and yet worried for Artemis at the same time as she indicated to the large crowd of people waiting rather impatiently behind them.

Artemis nodded, understanding Athena's concern as Athena mentally prodded everyone else, waking each of them from their spell-like, entranced state.

"Time enough to admire Annabeth's and my work. Let's finish this." Athena said with a barely visible smirk on her face as the others shook their heads and concentrated on holding up Percy's tomb.

They moved forward, heading straight towards a place where Artemis could see there was a rectangle in the ground that was precisely cut to fit Percy's tomb shape exactly. Slowly, they lowered the tomb until it was an inch above. Then, on a unseen signal, they dropped the tomb down.

Even from such a short distance, the heavy tomb landed with a loud thud. Each of them took a step back as it landed, and each of their eyes widened. All except for Athena and Annabeth.

The reason for their surprise was because a beam of pure light shone down at a 45 degree angle on Percy's tomb. The light caused the sea-green shroud to shimmer and shine with an intense brightness, giving it an ethereal glow.

Artemis raised her head as a wave of awestruck mutterings and whispers went throughout the hall as everyone walked inside. Percy's temple hall was so large that it could easily fit everyone inside it, with plenty of room to spare. It seemed like they would continue staring for the rest of eternity, but the moment Zeus stepped forward and cleared his throat, they immediately paid attention.

Silently, and without saying a word, Zeus waved his hand in the direction of Percy's tomb. Immediately, each and every being grouped together in organized groups, ready to pay their respects.

The Olympians, Hunters and Immortal Campers shared a look.

This was going to take a long time.

* * *

After long hours of watching every single citizen of Olympus, Amazons, Campers, Spirits, and Minor Gods touch Percy's tomb and shroud, whisper their last words and pay their respects, they were finally ready to burn Percy's shroud, although now they were forced to burn it at night, instead of when there was still some sunlight.

Silently, Artemis walked towards Percy's tomb and turned to face Hestia, who was wiping her eyes. She nodded once and raised her hand, a torch with a blazing flame lit at the tip appearing in her hand. Slowly, she handed it to Artemis, who took it with shaking hands. Artemis touched the shroud one last time, the silky-smooth shroud feeling like liquid and cool against her shaking hands. She stared at the torch, then turned to stare at Poseidon straight in the eyes. Poseidon nodded once. Artemis turned back to Percy's shroud, and with a deep breath, she put the torch on it.

For just a second, it seemed to resist the burning, before it burst into brilliant flames, a wave of scorching heat washing over everyone. As the flames continued to eat up the magnificent shroud, the flames burned brighter and hotter, as if Percy's own powers were fueling the fires. The heat became so intense and so hot, that everyone backed up more than twenty meters, lest they get burned. Even the Olympians moved back. All but Artemis.

Artemis stayed where she was, allowing the scorching heat to wash over, welcoming it even, since it allowed her to cry and not let anyone else see, since the intensity of the heat was enough to dry her tears as they rolled down her cheeks.

Percy…why? Why choose the path of death and pain, when you could've…could've chosen a life…a life with me? But Artemis already knew the answer. She knew, because Percy would never have had shied away from his duty, never have abandoned her, never leave her hunters, and would never do anything that would hurt her, as long as he was alive. And she had repaid him by being a cruel and harsh mistress, and when he had confessed his love for her, she had repaid it by practically denying it…and breaking his heart.

Artemis bowed her head down in shame and guilt, feeling her tears and the heat of the flames on her face.

"I am so sorry, Perseus. I love you. Forgive me." Artemis whispered, forcing herself to stop her tears as the last of Percy's shroud burned up, the fire dying down.

Numbly, Artemis raised her head…and once again froze in awe.

The silky, inky and midnight blackness of Percy's tomb seemed to fit even better in the vast and bright temple. It was so black that it seemed to suck in all light; even the direct light that was shining on it seemed to get sucked in.

Whereas the green shroud gave Percy's tomb an ethereal appearance by reflecting all the light, the black tomb radiated an ethereal appearance that seemed like it was sucking in all the light and releasing it out in tiny bits, giving the tomb a mysterious aura around it.

"It is done, Father." Artemis whispered quietly. "Now, we honor his wishes."

Zeus pursed his lips, signaling his disapproval, but he nodded. Clearing his throat for an extra effect, he turned to address the entire crowd.

"Everyone, leave. You can all come back tomorrow." Zeus said in a tone that clearly meant he was going to brook no argument. "All except for the campers that had fought alongside Jackson in the Battle for Manhattan."

With some grumbling and whining, everyone filed out, although they filed out slowly as they stared at the walls. The Campers that had fought alongside Percy, such as Travis and Connor Stoll, Clarisse LaRue and the others, they stayed behind, with looks of confusion.

Zeus grumbled for a bit as he stared at them before reluctantly breaking the news to them.

"Percy had a last wish before he died. He wished that every camper who is alive and had been with him through the Titan War to be Immortal. I was forc-ah, I thought it was a good idea. So, do any of you wish it?" Zeus said as the other Olympians rolled their eyes at the way Zeus was taking credit for things he didn't do.

Almost at once, each of the campers nodded.

Zeus grumbled under his breath, but turned to the rest of the Olympians, each of whom immediately stepped forward to start the immortalization process. And while Artemis had heartily approved, she had only done so because Percy had wished it.

Throughout the process, Artemis maintained a straight face, doing everything mechanically. She thought back to the last time she had helped along this very same process. Percy was with her, he was making her laugh, she was comfortable, and yet uncomfortable with him, but Percy was still alive, still laughing, and still with her. Now, he was dead, his soul in the Underworld, his body with the Fates, and here she was, all alone.

She was so deep in thought that she barely heard Zeus's enormous thundering, his short speeches, or his terms. She didn't hear the campers' enthusiastic agreements, their answers, anything. All she heard and thought was Percy.

With a sudden jerk, Artemis brought herself back to reality, and looked around in surprise. They had already immortalized the campers that Percy had wished, and Zeus had already sent them off. She turned to her fellow Olympians, most of whom had already left.

Poseidon, Hestia, Aphrodite and Athena had stayed behind though, the latter of which gave Artemis a nod of understanding before turning back to Annabeth, who was asking her a few questions.

"Mother, where-where's Chiron? Grover? Those two wouldn't such an important event, would they? And what about Tyson and Ella?" Annabeth was asking Athena.

"They…couldn't come. They were unable to come, since Dionysus told them. Tyson and Ella, I do not know." Athena said.

"I have not told anyone yet…but I will. I expect there will be a powerful backlash, but I suppose there is nothing I can do…" Poseidon said, his voice sounding hoarse. "Excuse me." Poseidon said. He turned to Percy's tomb with put his hand on it for a second.

"Good bye Percy. I will come back every day. I promise." Poseidon whispered before fading into a sea-green mist, no doubt travelling to his palace to break the awful news.

Hestia gave Artemis a nod before she too touched Percy's tomb and disappeared.

Artemis turned to Athena and Aphrodite, who were both staring at the tomb.

"Athena, Annabeth, truly, thank you for your help. Thank you for helping me give Percy the best we could. And Aphrodite," Artemis choked slightly and gritted her teeth, "As much as it pains me to say this…thank you. And Hephaestus, wherever he is."

"You're welcome Sister." Athena said simply, while Aphrodite smirked.

"Thanking me, huh? I bet that's the last thing you would ever have imagined could happen to you." Aphrodite said smugly. "It must've taken some serious pride-swallowing."

Aphrodite continued to smirk, until she noticed Artemis's death glare. It was a glare filled with venom, and Aphrodite immediately paled.

"Um, uh, I better get going alright? Bye!" Aphrodite said hurriedly, disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

Artemis grumbled a bit under her breath before she turned back to Athena.

"Take care of the Campers then. My Hunters and I will…go back to our own camp." Artemis said, suddenly feeling impossibly weary.

"Consider it done." Athena said. Artemis nodded and rounded her Hunters up, snapping her fingers and teleporting them all to their camp location.

With a mournful silence, Artemis and her Hunters walked the short distance to their camp, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

It feels so weird, Artemis thought, to not have Percy's hulking mass behind me. It felt uncomfortable, if made her feel insecure, and it pained her. There was not a single doubt in her mind that her Hunters felt the same, seeing how close Percy and they had become.

"I miss him, my lady." Tracy said quietly, reaching up and clutching her hand.

"I know Tracy…I know. Trust me, I do too…" Artemis replied, gripping Tracy's hands tightly.

"Is…the…the Hunt is going to go on, right?" Tracy asked hesitantly.

Artemis opened her mouth, completely ready to say "Of course!", but then she stopped. Thinking back on it, even though her Hunt had existed for a thousands of years, she could not remember the last time her Hunt had had this much fun, this much joy, this much life in it. As hard as she could, she could not seem to even remotely remember how the Hunt was without Percy. Percy had become the center, the life, the fun, the soul of the entire Hunt. And without him, it almost seemed…pointless.

"I-I…of course the Hunt will continue, but-but-I…."Artemis made a rapid decision right there and then. She needed time to get over Percy's death, to nurture her wounds and to heal them. And that would require time. She stopped walking and turned around to face her Hunters.

"Hunters…it has been a true honor to be with all of you, and we WILL continue the Hunt, but I…I think I need…I need to…"Artemis stuttered and faltered, struggling to find the right words. Fortunately for her, Thalia already had her own ideas and fully understood what Artemis was going through.

"It's alright, my lady. We, uh I, at least, understand. I…I was going to ask you for permission to go on a temporary leave for a few months…" Thalia mumbled, lowering her head to stare at the ground.

"I think that's what we all need." Phoebe said bluntly. "Um, no offence, my lady."

Artemis gave a sigh of relief. It was much easier when her Hunters actively wanted to take a break, than to tell them.

"None taken. I think it is best that we all take a break." Artemis paused for a bit and continued, "If any of you want, you can all stay at my palace. That's where I will be staying. We can pack up, rest for a bit, and then come back when we all feel like it." Artemis suggested. All of her Hunters nodded in agreement and with that, they continued walking until they reached their encampment.

As they reached their camp, each of them silently split off, automatically knowing who would pack which items up. Artemis headed straight for Percy's tent, and for a moment, stood there looking at the tent, her mind flashing back to various memories of the times when they had pranked Percy and he had come out grumpy and yet smiling.

Reaching a decision, Artemis snapped her fingers, transporting Percy's tent into her palace bedroom, so that she could be as close to it as she could. Mechanically, she packed up her own tent, along with a few others and waited for her Hunters to finish.

"My Lady! Um, a bit of trouble here!" A girl's voice she recognized as Angeline's came to her.

"What's the problem?" Artemis called out as she walked towards Angeline and the group of Hunters who were crowded around her.

"Um, well, we've packed everything up. But the Armory tent. We can't move it, we can't open it, and we can't pack it. We can't do anything with it." Angeline said, frowning at the tent with a wary look. "From the looks of it, I think only you can open it, my lady."

"Me? Really? This door should be accessible to anyone." Artemis. She stepped towards the tent and noticed that the doorknob was glowing a dim, silver light. She touched it, and with a silent hiss and a click, the door swung open gracefully.

Artemis turned around with a surprised look, while Angeline gave her a "told you so" look. With a shrug, Artemis entered the tent, her Hunters following close behind.

The instant she and her Hunters entered, they were immediately hit by an impossibly bright burst of silver light. For a moment, they were completely blinded before the light died down, allowing them to clearly see everything. In unison, they gasped in surprise.

Instead of the usual organized bundles of arrows, barrels of spare swords and daggers, there was a large table in the middle of the entire tent.

On the table were fifteen sword or dagger sheathes and fifteen small, fist-sized boxes. Above them, was one large box that spanned the entire width of the table. Each and every one of them glowed with a silver light.

As Artemis looked closer, she realized that on the boxes were her Hunter's names.

Thalia, Tracy, Phoebe, Christy, Diana, Elizabeth, Alex, Sasha, Angeline, Lisa, Laura, _Kristy, Sarah, Adriana, Sophia._

Then she looked up at the large box and saw her own name.

Lady Artemis

She turned to her Hunters with a perplexed look, which they returned, equally as perplexed. Slowly, Artemis reached up to the box that contained her name and opened. The instant she touched the box, it glowed silver, and when she flipped it open, she and her Hunters were immediately hit by a wave of pure silver light. If it weren't for the fact that each of them were immortal, they would've been blinded. As the light cleared, Artemis gasped.

Lying inside the box was a bow. A bow that seemed to be made of pure silver, but upon closer examination, Artemis realized that it was actually made of wood. Hesitantly, Artemis reached over and picked it up.

There was a subtle rushing sound as she picked the bow up, both she and the bow glowing with a soft silver light. Artemis inspected it, deeply impressed at its workmanship and its artistry. Along the shaft, all the way to the tips, ornate leaf patterns twisted around, shaped so perfectly that they looked beautiful and provided a very comfortable grip for her hand.

Artemis automatically drew back the string, relishing the smoothness and the tautness of the string. The wood had just the right amount of flex to give her maximum power, and as she inspected it with her godly senses, she could sense immense power in the wood and the string, which she assumed prevented the wood from breaking and the string from going slack. Suddenly, her bow pulsed with a silver light, and an instant later, there was clattering sound. Artemis looked towards the ground and saw her original bow lying there, and she immediately knew that the new bow had replaced it, allowing her to summon and use the new one in less than a thought's breadth.

With some hesitation, Artemis looked back into the large case and found several more items. A fist-sized box, a pair of hunting knife sheathes, a quiver, and two vambraces. Gently putting the bow aside on the table, she reached in and picked up the sheathes and the quiver. She and her Hunters gasped in unison.

Out of the case and into the light, the sheathes and quiver were breathtakingly beautiful. Interestingly, the scabbards and the quiver were both made of solid metal, a metal that gleamed and sparkled with a sharp silver light. And while Artemis could see that it was definitely solid metal, the sheathes were lightweight, as light as a boiled-leather scabbard and the quiver was no heavier than one made of solid wood.

The sheathes were inlaid with gold, vine designs twisting and twining around the entire surface, while near the mouth was a small cluster of leaves. The style seemed to continue onto the dagger's cross-guard, hilt and pommel, again, the leaf-and-vine designs on the hilt were shaped just perfectly so that her hands could grip it with ease and confidence, at the same time looking breathtakingly beautiful. The same could be said for her quiver, although her quiver was shaped so that it looked like two leaves were curving around and overlapping each other, a design that Artemis immediately took to.

The same basic vine-and-leaf designs could be found, but there were also forest designs, and even a deer on the quiver, all inlaid with gold. The mouth of the quiver was covered by a locket of gold, perfectly formed to keep the arrows in an orderly way.

Taking hold of one of the scabbards, she gripped the hilt of one of her knives and withdrew it. There was a brilliant flash of silver light as she pulled it out, the dim light reflecting off of the keenest, sharpest, and most artistic blade Artemis had ever set eyes on.

Beautiful vine and nature design were etched into the blade, mostly along the blade that was closest to the hilt, but a single vine-like design flowed from the hilt all the way to the tip of the blade. What was most mysterious was the metal that the blade was made of. Artemis could tell immediately, just by looking at it, that it was far sharper than anything she could have imagined. Artemis experimentally twirled it several times around her hand, deeply impressed that the blade was so light, and yet extremely sturdy, its balance perfect.

Then she realized why the knife seemed to glitter and flow so much. Running along the length of the blade, parallel to the vine designs, were small words that continuously flowed down her blade, disappearing off the tip but only to re-emerge at the hilt and repeat the process. Watching carefully, Artemis made out the words that were written in Ancient Greek.

Artemis wields me, and I protect my wielder. I am Silverlight, and my blade means death.

Artemis's eyes widened as she read it. It was the first time she had seen any weapon with this type of inscription, an inscription that continuously flowed down her blade in a never-ending process.

Suddenly, her blades, quiver and scabbards flashed, and with a loud clanging and clattering, she looked down at the floor and saw her old knives and quiver on the ground. Immediately, Artemis knew that just like her bow, the new knives and quivers had replaced her old ones.

There were three items left in the large box. Two vambraces, and the fist-sized box. Artemis decided to check out the vambraces, leaving the small box as the last.

The instant she picked up the vambraces, she knew at once that these were no ordinary vambraces. They held immense power, and something that she recognized as a mind-control, which made her slightly nervous.

She held them up and even in the dim light, she could see every vine pattern, every decoration, and every little detail, which obviously hinted at workmanship far superior than anything she had ever seen or met.

Instead of a piece of leather and a metal plate glued on it to protect the forearm, the vambrace was actually made entirely of metal, with a luxurious and supple padding on the inside to support her arm, cushion it, and protect it by absorbing some of the impact. What made it so unique and unlike other vambraces was that the outer part of it extended a little past the elbow joint, the plate narrowing down in a soft triangular way until it narrowed into a tip. To prevent it from accidently snagging and cutting things, the tip was a small ball of metal, artistically styled so that it looked like the bud of a flower.

This meant that when she kept her hands down by her side, it would protect her elbows, and if she were to raise half of her arm up so that her upper arm and her forearm would create a 90 degree angle, she could use it as a defensive weapon, jabbing her arm backwards to injure anyone that attempted to grab her from behind. It was dangerous, and yet not lethal.

However, Artemis was curious as to why the outward facing parts of her vambrace were a bit thicker than what was common. Peering back into the box to see whether there was anything to explain it, she found a note. Picking up, she quickly read the short note:

 _Use your mind to connect with them._

Artemis frowned as she read it, but decided to try it out. After all, she had sensed power in the vambraces. Holding her vambraces up in front of her, she attempted to mentally connect with it. At first, nothing happened. Then a searing pain flashed through her head, causing her to close her eyes and grit her teeth together as she winced and grimaced. An instant later, it disappeared. As soon as the pain disappeared, she felt one of her vambrace move slightly, followed by a collective gasp from her Hunters. She opened her eyes, and almost gasped herself.

Sticking right out of her vambrace was a blade the length of her forearm.

Warily, Artemis raised her arm up and examined the blade that had slid out. The blade had extended from a secret slot that sat against the outward-facing part of her forearm, which meant that all she had to do was just bend her wrist downward and she could wield the blade almost like another sword without worrying about damaging her hands. She could also, thanks to the fact that the blade covered her hand, stab into something and grab with her hand, no need to worry about overhand strikes against her wrist since the blade would protect it. She would, however, have to be careful of underhand chops and digs, since from underneath, her wrist was still vulnerable.

Now that she had gotten over the shock that she now had a forearm-mounted blade, she inspected the blade itself.

The blade was made of the exact same metal as her daggers, and vambrace, which continued to mystify her. When extended, the blade was a bit wider, about the width of her wrist, which gradually narrowed into an extremely pointy and sharp tip. The blade was heavily etched with nature designs, leaves in various shapes with vines tightly intertwining around them, giving the blades an elegant and deadly look.

"It requires a new fighting style. But how do I slide it back in…" Artemis muttered, thinking of the blade sliding back in. Barely had she finished her thought than it immediately slid back in, quick and silent, not a single sound to indicate that something had changed. Experimentally, Artemis thought about her left forearm and instantly, the blade slid out. She thought again, and the blade slid right back.

"Those blades make me uneasy…they're hidden. Dangerous." Thalia said, looking at the blades with a deep wariness.

"Perhaps. But the technology and the power in these are far more advanced than anything even Athena could do." Artemis said, looking at her vambraces.

Leaving her vambraces on, she looked into the box and pulled out the last item: A fist-sized box that had her name etched onto its cover. She looked up from the box to her Hunters, who were all watching her with tense breaths.

Taking a breath, she flipped the case open. And gasped.

Sitting inside the box, on a cushion, was a ring. And it was no ordinary ring. It was a ring that reflected just the slightest bit of light, its silver band catching every photon of light and multiplying them by tenfold.

The ring was an object of exquisite beauty, a large, 20-carat…diamond? Artemis couldn't tell whether it was a diamond or not, because the jewel had a color of the purest silver with a splash of sea-green in it. The jewel literally flashed and sparkled, as if inside the jewel were a pit of endless silver flame. Surrounding the center jewel was a ring of small but the finest pearls, each of them looking like a full moon, the silver band beyond beautiful, stylized with simple leaf patterns. Artemis stared at the ring, astounded at its beauty and perfection.

"Are you…are you going to put it on, my lady?" Tracy asked quietly.

Artemis nodded. With shaking hands, Artemis plucked the ring out and lifted it up. It seemed to be a star of its own, sparkling and flashing brilliantly in the dim light. Then she put it on her ring finger.

Nothing happened as she put it on her finger. It sparkled beautifully on her finger but nothing happen. On an impulse, Artemis twisted the ring slightly, and to her surprise, the ring of pearls turned forty-five degrees. Then the ring pulsed, and Artemis felt the full force of its power for the first time: It was like a portal, the power radiating from the ring was so intense that she felt as if she were being ripped in two. Sparkling black fire roared from the ring and washed over and suddenly an intense weight and pressure fell on Artemis, so heavy and intense that it felt as if she were holding the sky again. She buckled to her knees and gasped.

Her Hunters rushed forward to help her, but before they could do anything, Artemis glowed with an intense silver light, more intense than even a supernova. A small wave of force caused her Hunters to stumble backwards, the light intense enough to blind even their immortal eyes. Then the light began to dim and fade, and Artemis stumbled to her feet.

The first thing that Artemis noticed was that she was wearing different clothing and was also wearing something a little heavier than plain cloth. Keeping her eyes closed to steady herself, she took a few deep breaths, opened her eyes and looked down. Only to almost faint at what met her eyes.

She was wearing a full suit of armor, complete with greaves, her vambraces, spaulders, and a full front and back body plate. Normally, she never wore armor, besides bracers, since armor was heavy and would just weigh her down, she preferred speed than strength. However, whatever metal this armor was made of, it was impossibly lightweight. Even though she was wearing spaulders and a full body plate, she felt like she was wearing nothing heavier than boiled leather armor. Looking down, she examined her armor.

To her great surprise, instead of wearing leather boots with metal plates attached to it, her "greaves" were actually solid metal boots, the inside of her boot sheathed and padded with the same material that her vambraces were cushioned with, causing her greave/boot to be extremely comfortable and providing her legs with a snug fit. The base of her boots contained heavy leaf designs, which thinned out the further it went up, until it ended up with two simple, curved vines that extended from the base to the tip. Her thighs were completely bare of any armor, which Artemis approved of, since it would only slow her down. Moving up, Artemis frowned slightly at the full body plate.

The armor form-fitted her perfectly, and while the area around the chest was solid metal, her midriff had interlocking plates that allowed her to bend over and turn in any direction without inhibiting her movement. The entire armor was heavily etched with nature designs, and in the center of her chest plate was a round circle that signified the moon, a bow with an arrow notched, and a deer. Artemis tried out a few basic moves and flips, folding her body more than one hundred and eighty degrees front and back, kicking her legs so that they swung up and past her ear, splits, then did some front and back flips.

Every time she did a move, she fully expected the armor to resist her movements. However, thanks to the interlocking plates and the precise positioning of the plates, her armor twisted and flexed with her body, matching each motion perfectly. This was largely due to just how light her armor was. Her armor shone and glowed with a powerful silver light, surrounding her with an aura of light. She raised her head turned to face her Hunters.

"So, what do you think?" Artemis asked.

Instantly, all of her Hunters took a step back, fear and shock visible on their faces. Artemis cocked her head to one side with a questioning look.

"What's the matter?" Artemis asked, confused. In response, Thalia pointed at her face, her hand shaking slightly.

Perplexed, Artemis summoned a full size mirror and turned to face it. Instinctively, her hand reached down to her belt and grabbed her dagger hilt.

Staring right back at her was a faceless figure with gleaming sharp eyes that reflected everything, and glowed with a hidden silver fire. With shaking hands, Artemis reached up and touched her face, expecting bone and flesh. Instead, her fingertips touched a cold and metallic surface. A mask. Artemis instantly jerked her hands backwards before reaching towards it again, slowly peeling the mask off her face. Artemis flipped the mask over and stared.

The mask was extraordinarily thin, a featureless piece of metal that had a wide gap at the bottom which left plenty of space for her mouth, and the mask even had a nose piece that stuck out and fitted Artemis perfectly. The only decoration on the mask was three vines that extended from the base and branched out, ending just short of the eyes. The forehead area was more special, instead of a solid piece of metal covering her forehead, it had branched into several lines from the temple area of the mask. It still provided excellent protection against a glancing blow, but it also looked stylish. The most striking however, were the eyes.

The eye part was actually a visor that Artemis could push up and pull down to protect her eyes. It was a singular lens that covered the entire retinal area, and slightly shaping around the nose as well, and was attached to the mask by hinges. The lens was pure silver and while it seemed to suck in all light, it also reflected everything, completely hiding her eyes.

She looked up at her Hunters and quirked a grin. Only to go back to being confused when her Hunters flinched again.

"You-you're e-eyes." Phoebe stuttered out.

Frowning, Artemis turned to her mirror and looked again, this time without the mask. And was quite shocked at what she saw.

Her eyes, instead of glowing silver like they always did, were now endless pits of roaring, dangerous and violent silver fire. Her eyes brewed and roiled, never stopping. Slowly, she slid on her mask and smiled thinly at what she saw. A visor that glowed with a silver light from within, and glittered with a silver light from the outside.

"My…my Lady, are you alright?" Thalia asked nervously as Artemis stood up. Maybe it was her armor, her mask, or maybe it was the suddenly intense power that was rolling off of her like heat waves, but Artemis seemed to tower over them all.

"Yes. Why?" Artemis asked.

"Because…because you're radiating power. So much that I don't even think the Big Three together have as much." Thalia said.

Artemis frowned and examined herself. She certainly felt more powerful, although she wasn't actually completely sure how powerful she was. And she also kept on wondering who had set this up.

"I don't know…but whoever did this, they left things for each of you. Why don't you open it and try them out?" Artemis suggested, stepping aside so her Hunters could access the boxes. Her Hunters looked at each other uncertainly.

"Um…Thalia? You first?" Phoebe said.

Thalia smirked. "Chicken much? Sure. I'll go first." Thalia said, smirking as she walked forward to stand in front of the box that had her name on it.

Slowly, she reached out and grabbed the box. And slowly, she flipped it open. Her eyes widened.

The ring that sat inside had the same silver band that Artemis's ring had, but the center jewel was a large…jewel that looked like an opal. It was pure black, darker even than Percy's tomb, and yet again, the jewel seemed to contain a hidden fire that caused the gem to flash and glow with a light that had nothing to do with the dim light they were currently standing in. A ring of sapphires surrounded the opal in a similar fashion to how the pearls had surrounded Artemis's "diamond". It was obvious to everyone that Thalia liked it, since she had taken it out of the box and was carefully examining it. With a questioning expression, she looked up at Artemis. Artemis nodded, just once. Taking a breath, Thalia put the ring on her finger and twisted it.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then her ring glowed and sucked in all light, except for the light that was shining from Artemis's armor and ring, which only seemed to glow brighter. Black fire flowed from the ring as Thalia crumpled to her knees, tears of pain flowing down her face as she struggled to breathe from the intense pressure that was squeezing her. Suddenly, Thalia began glowing silver, so bright that the Hunters had to turn away. However, Artemis could see everything, and saw how Thalia seemed to be absorbing the light. Then, as quickly as the light had come, it vanished, leaving Thalia kneeling on the floor as she took deep breaths to steady herself.

Artemis knew immediately that Thalia had changed. She had power radiating from her now, as strong as any Olympian, and as she kneeled on the ground, tendrils of lightning and electricity crackled all over her body. And she too was armor plated. Slowly, Thalia stood up, giving everyone a good look at her armor.

Thalia's armor was like Artemis's, except for the fact that Thalia's was pure black, with silver trimmings and silver designs, providing a sharp contrast between black and silver. Thalia's spaulders, greaves and vambraces were of the same basic design, although not quite as heavily adorned as Artemis's own. Slung and strapped to Thalia's back was a bow and a quiver. Compared to Artemis's bow and quiver, they were plain, with minimal decoration. However, the quiver was also shaped like two leaves curving around and overlapping each other, they merely lacked the heavier decoration that Artemis's equipment had. The biggest difference was the mask.

While Thalia's mask was also expressionless, and had the same nature designs and the same cutout for the mouth, Thalia's visor lenses were a completely different color. Artemis's lenses were a pure silver, blending perfectly with her mask. Thalia's visor was pure black in color. It was so dark, it seemed as if it was actively sucking in the light, and yet it too was reflective. Thalia reached up and pulled her mask off, revealing a pair of shockingly blue eyes that constantly crackled with electricity and seemed to be on the verge of bursting into flames. Thalia picked up her knife sheathes and attached them onto her armor before grinning.

"Well…that felt terrible. But now, I feel great." Thalia said, flipping her mask over and looking at it before wincing and turning it over again. Then she turned to Artemis. "But my lady, who…who is doing this? And why?"

"My guess is as good as yours." Artemis said, shrugging. Then she frowned. "Don't you have any forearm blades?" Artemis asked, sliding her blades in and out.

"Eh…No?" Thalia said, checking her vambraces and peeking under them. "Nope."

"So only I have them? Huh. Interesting…" Artemis said, frowning as she looked at her forearm mounted, hidden blades. She turned to the rest of her Hunters, who were staring at both of them with wide eyes. "Aren't any of you going to get your upgrades too?"

Immediately, they all stepped forward and took their boxes, examining their rings and their daggers. Almost at once, they put their rings on and turned them at the same time. This, as it turned out, wasn't exactly a good idea.

The cumulative power of fourteen Hunters activating their rings at once proved too much for the armory tent.

The fourteen rings sucked in so much light that everything around them turned pitch black, except for Artemis's armor, which glowed as brightly as ever, and Thalia's silver-trimmed armor, the trimmings still glowing. Then, the combined glow released so much light and so much power, that the tent literally blew apart, the stashes of arrows vaporizing in an instant, the entire forest lighting up brighter than a supernova for just an instant before the light died off. Surprisingly, even though Artemis and Thalia held their masks in their hands, they didn't as much as blink as they stared at the light directly.

After much gasping, and quite a bit of swearing, her Hunters stood up, each of them wearing different colored armor, with the exception of the Trio, who were clad in the same, sky-blue silver-trimmed armor. They were also the only ones with the same colored visors, since the others were varied color, such as Tracy, who had a amethyst-colored visor and Phoebe, who was clad in a blood-red armor with a matching visor.

In unison, her Hunters took their sheathes and strapped them on. As one, fourteen multicolored, light sucking and reflective visors turned and stood at attention, facing Artemis and Thalia. Both flinched slightly, since the mixture of various colored, faceless masks with the reflective visors was extremely unnerving.

As they stood there, Artemis came to realize just how much power was rolling off of them. So much, that Artemis doubted that even all the Olympians, excluding her, combined together could outweigh the amount that was rolling off her Hunters. Add Thalia, and it was a no-brainer, the Hunters were definitely more powerful. And that made Artemis uneasy, since things like these never came without side effects or catches. Most of the time, at least. And Artemis was also unsure of herself. She felt something deep inside her, something that contained many hidden abilities.

However, even after all of this, she felt tired. Weary. Worn out. She wanted to…rest.

"Alright girls. Get ready." Artemis said. Without even waiting for their confirmation, she snapped her fingers, instantly teleporting all of them, including camp equipment, right into her palace.

A second later, they all reappeared in Artemis's palace living room, which was sparsely decorated, since Artemis preferred nature and a simplistic design. Hence, throughout her palace was an ever present smell of the forest.

"OK girls, the whole palace is open to you all. Do whatever you want, and when you're all ready…we'll start the Hunt again." Artemis said, about to retire to her bedroom.

"And when you are ready too, my lady." Thalia said, giving her a knowing look as she and the rest of the Hunters nodded.

Artemis winced at Thalia's words. It was true. If she herself was not ready, the Hunt would never be ready. Giving them all a brief nod, she turned and retreated to her bedroom.

As Artemis entered her room, she immediately took off her armor by twisting the ring and then she took the ring off and examined it. The ring made her uneasy, since it contained enormous power and it was just too…perfect. Everything was flawless. The silver band glittered and reflected everything, the jewel in the center sparked and flared with its own power, and the ability to hold such a beautiful and strong armor was astounding.

Artemis continued to roll the ring around her hand for a while before she slipped it back on, pacing around the room as she wondered who could've possibly done this. The only explanation was Percy. But Percy was… dead. She had seen it with her own eyes, and the Fates had taken his body. The Fates had even confirmed it, in a roundabout way by giving her his thread and tell her that he had chosen his own path. Besides, Artemis knew that Percy did not have the skill nor the power to craft such wondrous artifacts. But who would be selfless and thoughtful enough to do so? Percy. It all revolved around Percy. Artemis grinned slightly. Even after his death, he still had a way to confound and annoy her. Artemis continued to pace around her room and ponder it when she noticed a light glinting near her bedside table. Frowning, she walked over to it. And stopped cold.

Sitting right on her bedside table was an open-topped glass case. And in the glass case was a rose. And it wasn't any rose, it was a silver rose, the petals shone pure silver, while the stem and the leaves were as green as green could be. The rose's scent was intoxicating, sweeter and purer than anything Artemis had ever smelled before, even back in the old days when the wilderness still ruled. Then Artemis noticed a small piece of paper attached to the side of the glass case. She pulled it off and read it.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Artemis gasped. "Percy…" she sat down on her bed and carefully folded the piece of paper as she frowned. Percy was dead. It could…it could be a prank by Hermes. And if it was… Artemis thought. She clenched her fists. But where did the Silver Rose come from? Artemis thought. She convinced herself that it wasn't Percy, since the handwriting didn't look like his. Even so, Artemis couldn't help but cling on to the small bit of hope that Percy might not be completely dead. But then…where is he?

"Fates curse it…Percy, are you alive or not?" Artemis snarled before she fell back onto her bed and closed her eyes, her mind in full revolt as she fell into a deep, uneasy and nightmare-laden sleep.

After the initial boost of energy in giving Percy the best she could have worn-off, the pain of his death, of seeing him brutally and painfully beaten to death rushed back with a vengeance.

* * *

For three months, Artemis did not leave her room, in fact, she barely left her bed, if at all. Artemis cried constantly as she thought about Percy, dreamed about him, yearned for him. She also constantly looked at her ring, which seemed to get more and more beautiful as time passed, and the silver rose. The rose was just breathtaking, the smell was impossibly intoxicating and it glowed at all times. No one managed to talk to her, even when she talked with Thalia, it was usually brief and short.

Artemis was lying on her bed, brooding and looking at the ring on her finger when Apollo walked in.

"Sister…please, you have to get up and do something. Besides, Zeus just called a meeting. It's extremely important. You have to go." Apollo said.

Artemis turned over and glared at Apollo.

"Who said you could come in?" Artemis said grumpily.

"Sis, c'mon, you know I'm the only male that can get in your palace." Apollo said, trying for a half-hearted smile. It was the wrong thing to say.

Pain flash through Artemis's eyes. "You are now…not before." Artemis grumbled, turning over to stuff her face into her pillows.

Apollo gritted his teeth. He had put up with his sister's whining for three months, obeying her every order, and now it was about time for him to be strict with her.

"Look Artemis, you have to get out of this bed right now. Percy is dead, you can't do anything about it, so just forget it and get back up. You got over Orion pretty quickly, why not this time? If I remember correctly, you got over Orion in like 24 hou-"

Artemis snapped. Three months of pain and hurt that had welled up within her suddenly burst out of her in an explosive surge. She launched herself right out of bed and slammed into Apollo, faster than the eye could blink. She pinned Apollo down to the floor easily and her hand crept towards his throat.

"PERCY. WAS. _NOTHING._ LIKE ORION! NOTHING! Orion was a stupid _boy_ who had all the traits that I absolutely _hate._ He was a womanizer, a rapist, a lying, cheating, deceptive BASTARD! I will admit that I was foolish and stupid enough to fall for his charms and his skills, but that is _IT._ If he were to come here, right now, I would _slaughter_ him like a pig. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Artemis screamed at her brother as she shook him like a rag doll with a strength she did not know she had.

"DO YOU?" Artemis yelled again as her hand closed on his throat. Apollo hastily nodded, although his movements soon stopped as Artemis gripped his throat with an impossibly tight grip.

"Good. Now Percy, he was a real man. He was everything a man was not, and he _loved_ me. And I…I _crushed_ it. I crushed his heart, and I _broke_ it! I did, exactly what I _hated!"_ Do you understand? I BROKE HIS HEART!"Artemis half screamed and half sobbed, lifting Apollo off his feet and beginning to throttle him with one hand, as easily as lifting a cup from the table. Apollo choked and thrashed, struggling to free himself from Artemis's grip.

"Please….sis…uurrkkk…" Apollo choked out as Artemis relentlessly tightened her grip to the point where Apollo couldn't breathe at all.

"So don't you _dare_ dictate how I should feel." Artemis hissed venomously. With a simple flick of her wrist, she threw Apollo across her room, causing him to collide painfully against her solid stone walls.

"Artemis, please, you're being irrational! Moaning and crying over him isn't going to bring him back, the best you can do is just forget about-"

"DON'T YOU _DARE_ SPEAK OF HIM AS IF HE WERE ONE OF YOUR FEMALE DATES!" Artemis screamed. The air around her crackled with energy as she slowly advanced on Apollo, who was hastily retreating.

"Get out."

"But sister, what about Zeus's-"

"I don't _care!_ Now get out before I force you to." Artemis snarled.

"But si-"

"I said, GET. _OUT_!" Artemis screamed, her mind wanting to push Apollo away as far as possible. What happened shocked her as much as it shocked Apollo.

Pain suddenly exploded in her head, causing Artemis to groan and clutch her head between her hands. However, what happened to Apollo was far worse.

At the same time as Artemis felt pain explode in her head, Apollo was suddenly hit by a massive force that felt like it came from Zeus's own Master Bolt. Apollo was lifted off his feet and smashed straight through Artemis's palace walls without slowing down.

As the pain receded, Artemis wondered how she had managed to send Apollo crashing through her walls and flying into the air without touching him. She had just _thought_ about Apollo flying backwards, and then it happened. Artemis frowned. Maybe her new powers allowed her to use her mind as an offensive weapon?

Turning, Artemis fixed her gaze on a desk and sent a mind bolt after it. Almost immediately, the desk shattered into little splinters, but with the shattering came a small twinge of pain in Artemis's head.

"Huh…so, a mental mind bolt. That's completely new…" Artemis muttered under her breath. She would have to practice it when she felt like it, and she knew that the pain would lessen the more she did it. Right now however, Artemis didn't feel like anything. Without a seconds thought, she flopped back into bed.

She had barely lay back down when another person entered her room. And it was none other than Thalia.

"My Lady. You must get out of bed. Zeus demands that every Olympian be there for the council." Thalia said quietly. Of all her Hunters, Thalia and Tracy missed Percy the most, and during those three months, Thalia had spent much of her time with Annabeth and Chiron, the former two heartbroken over the loss of Percy, while Chiron, as old as he was, was shocked and deeply hurt by the loss. Chiron had locked himself in his own study for several weeks without eating or drinking before coming out, looking ancient beyond his years, despite the fact that he was immortal. As for the satyr, Grover, he had almost killed himself before his girlfriend managed to stop him.

"No Thalia…I don't feel like it." Artemis moaned.

"My Lady, please. You have to." Thalia said quietly.

"No." Artemis said, turning over so that her back was facing Thalia. There was a slight rustle, and then Artemis literally jerked upright as a powerful electric shock coursed through her entire body. She turned to see Thalia, her hand outstretched and instead of her electric blue eyes, Thalia's eyes were endless pits of boiling blue flame. "Thalia! What was that for?"

"I'm sorry my lady. You know I'd never disrespect you. But I _loved_ Percy. He was my closest friend. He was closer than a brother to me. And I know that Percy would not appreciate what you are doing right now." Thalia said sternly.

Artemis stopped. It was a valid point. Would Percy like what she was doing right now? Percy was not a person to slack off. He had worked dutifully and constantly to help the Hunt, and all Artemis was doing right now was just slacking off, putting the Hunt on hold. Artemis stared into Thalia's flaming eyes and came to a conclusion: She had to pick herself back up and honor Percy's memory. She could no longer slack off and waste her time.

"You're right." Artemis said, leaping off her bed. "You're right. HUNTERS!" Artemis called out as she snapped her fingers, putting on her favorite clothing, the original silver suit and pants that Percy had thought up for her. An instant later, all of her Hunters filed into her room.

"Yes, my lady?" they said in unison.

"I'm back. And now let's go to that meeting Zeus wants." Artemis said, lightly rubbing her ring for comfort.

Her Hunters let out a cheer before they noticed the massive hole in her wall.

"Um, my lady, what happened?" Tracy asked, pointing to the hole.

"Oh. Nothing. My brother wanted to, ah, test whether my walls were hard enough to protect me, so I helped him out." Artemis said simply before walking right out the door, knowing that her Hunters would follow. With some chuckling and laughing, her Hunters followed her.

They arrived at the Throne Room soon after, and as Thalia had said, Zeus had demanded that every god be there. Even the Immortal Campers were there, the old and new ones. Only Artemis's and Apollo's thrones were empty.

As they walked in, Artemis became acutely aware that practically all of the gods were staring at her and her Hunters in a confused way, while the Campers were staring in an embarrassed way. She frowned.

"Is there a problem?" She asked in a general way.

"Well…Artemis, you've been in bed for like, three months straight, and instead of looking like a mess…you look…you look…breathtaking. Even your Hunters." Athena said, frowning as she looked at them.

Artemis frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Here." Aphrodite said, a jealous look glinting in her eyes. She waved her hands and created a large mirror that allowed Artemis to see herself and her Hunters clearly.

"Oh." Was all Artemis said.

Facing them, in the mirror, was not what Artemis and her Hunters originally looked like. Now, they were vastly upgraded in looks.

Artemis's hair was silky, lush, shiny and thick, her hair gleaming a brilliant auburn color, while her lips were pure red, her skin glowing, flawless and smooth. In this form, Artemis seemed to radiate beauty, especially since her eyes sparkled like never before, or when her eyes were pits of endless silver flames. Her curves seemed more artistically curved, combining beauty, sexiness and athleticism in a perfect package. Even her Hunters had changed a lot, each of them giving off a powerful silver glow, each of their eyes sparkling.

Artemis stopped herself from looking and turned to face Zeus, who seemed to be examining them. No doubt that he had sensed the massive power increase in her and her Hunters.

"Father, what seems to be the problem? Why call us? What's wrong?" Artemis said, standing right where she was, moving over to her throne and taking a seat in it, while her Hunters took up their usual positions.

"Wait. First of all, where's Apollo? I thought he was the one that told you to come here." Zeus asked. At the same time, Poseidon flinched. Zeus turned to him. "What's the matter?"

"Umm…Let me show you." Poseidon said. Poseidon waved his hand and with a shimmering of light, opened up a portal made of water and reached in, ready to pull something out when Zeus interrupted him.

"When could you do that?" Zeus asked, a jealous look glinting in his eyes as he pointed at Poseidon's water portal.

"Huh? Oh, uh, I've been…improving my control over water, that's why." Poseidon said hastily. While Zeus gave him a suspicious look but nodded anyway, Artemis's eyes immediately turned to Poseidon's hand, or, more specifically, his ring finger. And true to Artemis's suspicions, a ring glittered on it.

 _So, Poseidon has one too. I wonder who else does?_ Artemis wondered. She would've thought more, but at that moment Poseidon pulled whatever he was pulling out of the portal. The entire room gasped while Artemis winced in embarrassment and her Hunters held back chuckles.

It was Apollo. In a very bad state.

Apollo was drenched in golden _ichor,_ which mainly seemed to be coming from his head. Besides the blood, he was scratched in many places, and judging from the terrible angles of his limbs, he had broken many of his bones.

"Who did this. _Who did this?"_ Zeus thundered as he glared at everyone in the room.

Artemis briefly considered not answering before she decided to answer anyway.

"I did, Father." Artemis said.

The room stilled to a deathly silence as Zeus's mouth dropped wide open, nothing but choking sounds coming out as he struggled to speak.

"B-b-b-But he's your brother! How could you do that, Artemis? I will make sure that there will be a punishment for you." Zeus growled out, his eyes flashing.

"He's a stupid boy that insulted Percy by comparing him with _Orion._ " Artemis spat, spitting out the last word with a venomous snarl. She felt her eyes burst into flames and Zeus involuntarily flinched. Seizing her chance to escape a lecture, she continued. "Now, why did you call us here, Father? What's the _matter?"_

Zeus was still gaping and spluttering, so Hestia helped by offering to heal Apollo.

"Zeus, would you like me to take care of Apollo? Then you could get on with the meeting." Hestia said, winking at Artemis, who flushed.

"Yes, yes…take care of him." Zeus said distractedly.

Hestia smirked slightly as she took Apollo and gently set him on the ground, resting her hand on his forehead as she began to heal him. Artemis noticed however, that as Hestia moved to get Apollo, Hestia also had a ring on her finger. Now that she noticed it, she also noticed that Hestia seemed to radiate warmth and heat far more than before. Artemis frowned slightly. She would figure out who had given out the rings, but right now, she had to know why Zeus had called them all here.

"So, what is it, Lord Zeus?" Artemis asked again.

Zeus, who was still distracted, turned to Hades and gave him a nod, the latter whom immediately cleared his throat and started speaking,

"Well, most of you remember how Oceanus had said that _'_ _But from the way things are looking, Gaea won't even need her last plan. I can do it right here, and right now.'_ But he failed. At first, we thought he was merely bluffing. But it's turned out to be true. We know what Gaea's last plan is now." Hades said.

While the others had concerned faces, Artemis grew frustrated. Her family _never_ got to the point.

"Well? What is it? Get to the point!" Artemis snapped.

"Tartarus is open. Or at least, half open. Gaea must've persuaded Tartarus to allow most of the monsters to be freed. The good news is that all the major ones, such as Kronos and the Titans, Giants, they're still there. But there is currently a slew of lesser monsters that are about to break free of Tartarus and wreck chaos." To emphasize his point, Hades waved his hand and the air rippled as movement could be seen. In it, everyone could clearly see a massive sea of monsters advancing through the darkness. Hades waved his hand again, and like a camera, it panned a short distance to show the gates of Tartarus.

"That's how close they are to breaking through, and we must stop them." Hades said.

Zeus nodded. "This is why I called the meeting. If it were my choice, I would just go in there and blast anything and everything. Hades has, after all, given all of us permission to enter his territory this one time." At this, Hera gave him a sharp glare, and Zeus rapidly cleared his throat. "Of course, ah, reason and safety prompts me to ask my daughter for her strategies and ideas." Zeus said, quickly recovering and waving his hand at Athena.

"Yes, I have an idea." Artemis said, jumping off her throne and standing up straight. Her Hunters immediately followed suit, standing up and at attention.

"We will kill them all." Artemis said venomously. "Hunters. Suit up!"

She raised her hand and twisted her ring, her armor exploding into full form, fully protecting her in a suit of super lightweight and strong armor. It was a good time to test how strong the armor was in real battle, and this was the perfect time for her to get herself up to speed. Her Hunters followed suit, each of them twisting their ring, cladding each of them in perfect, silver armor.

Artemis reached up and flipped her visor down, giving a feral grin.

"Let's roll." With a snap of her fingers, Artemis teleported herself and her Hunters to Tartarus, leaving an extremely shocked group of people staring after her wake.

"Wherever in the whole _Universe_ did Artemis and her Hunters get that?" Zeus screeched like a little girl. Everyone else was too shocked or stunned to answer, while Hades could only open up a window that would allow everyone to watch Artemis.

Artemis and Co. appeared right inside the Gates of Tartarus. While it was extremely smoky and dark down here, Artemis and her Hunters had no problem seeing perfectly fine. They could also see the massive sea of monsters that was slowly bearing down on them.

"Hunters…are you ready?" Artemis asked, summoning her silver bow that shone like a beacon in the darkness.

"Yes." They answered as they spread out in a single line, each of them drawing their own bows.

"Fire with everything you've got, on my mark." Artemis said. She turned her head slightly and saw each of her Hunters in the "ready" position, multiple arrows nocked and ready. She herself picked out three "heavy" arrows and grinned.

"For Percy." Artemis whispered under her breath as she eyed the advancing crowd of monsters.

And then she let loose her arrows. Almost immediately, a rain of arrows followed from her Hunters. She, along with her Hunters, continuously sent rain after rain of arrows, but then the monsters got too close. With a flourish, Artemis drew both of her knives and leaped into the battle, dual slashing and stabbing as she did so. Soon, she and her Hunters were in the fight of their lives.

After fighting for a couple of hours, Artemis was pleasantly surprised to find that her skills, instead of deteriorating slightly, were better than ever. Her body flowed and moved like silk, every move was just perfect, not wasting the slightest bit of energy in unnecessary movements. Every strike she made was perfect, precise, and deadly. Her brain automatically scanned whatever she was fighting, and she would automatically choose the path of least resistance, and yet causing the most damage.

Her twin flaming silver blades wove circles of deadly fire, and Artemis relished at how good she felt, and at how many powers and abilities she now had at her disposal.

Summoning a thin line of silver fire at the tip of her blade, she swiped sideways before thrusting the fire out. The fire flew through the air, cutting through several groups of monsters in a perfect line before dissipating. Flipping her blade, she slammed it into the ground, a wall of fire roaring to life as it destroyed every monster in a three hundred and sixty degree radius.

As Artemis took a breath, she noticed-or rather, felt- her hand grow hot. Frowning, she looked down and her eyes widened. Her hand was wreathed in a ball of pure silver…something. It wasn't fire, it wasn't liquid, it wasn't anything she had seen before. Then it hit her.

 _Plasma?_ Artemis thought. _Whenever could I summon_ plasma? _Hades, whenever could_ anyone _summon plasma?_

Experimentally, Artemis raised her hand and fired at a large group of Laistrygonian giants.

The result surprised and shocked her beyond her expectations.

A colossal explosion shook the ground as her plasma blast hit the ground. It immediately wiped out ten times the number of monsters Artemis had been aiming for, and the blast released a wall of force that caused every monster in the surrounding area to topple like dominoes. The recoil from firing the bolt was enough to send Artemis skidding backwards ten yards.

Regaining her senses, she turned and caught Thalia's gaze, who, even with the mask on, seemed to be giving her a surprised look. Then Thalia turned away and summoned a blast of lightning as powerful as Zeus's own, frying an entire squadron of monsters.

"Die, goddess!"

Artemis whirled around, instinctively raising her blades in an 'X' position, just blocking a powerful blow that would've cleaved her in two. Artemis's eyes widened as she recognized the dual bronze scimitars, with the poisonous mist rolling off it. Kampê.

"You." Artemis spat.

"Yes, me. You wear pretty armor, Goddess, but you are no Hecatonchire. You're dead." Kampê snarled.

Suddenly disengaging, Kampê knocked Artemis's daggers out of her hand and slammed the tips of both of her scimitars right at Artemis's chest plate. Instead of the excruciating pain that Artemis fully expected to feel, she just felt a strong push and heard a loud crack as she was forced several feet backwards from the force of Kampê's blow. Both she and Kampê looked down, the former in surprise while the latter was with pure shock.

Kampê's scimitars had snapped in half, the broken shards lying on the ground, while Artemis's armor was completely unscathed, not even the slightest scratch to indicate that it had just been brutally stabbed.

"You're the dead one now, Kampê." Artemis sneered.

She extended her forearm mounted blade and slammed it deep into Kampê's chest. Kampê gasped in pure surprise and pain, and Artemis smirked. Summoning a bolt of plasma, she fed it straight into her blade. With an explosive bang, Kampê flew off of Artemis's hidden blade, a massive hole in her chest as she slammed into the opposite wall before crumbling into monster dust.

"Not so bad after all…" Artemis muttered under her breath as she slid her blade back in. She stood up and surveyed the battle that was raging around her.

There were clearly a lot less monsters but there still many of them, even if they were lesser monsters. She quickly located her Hunters, who were all fighting as a group against a tide of monsters. Artemis stared at them and came upon a decision: She'd end this right here and now, no more time wasted. Transforming into a falcon, Artemis shot into the air, traveling the short distance to her Hunters before transforming back into human form, firing off a couple of blasts to clear the area.

"My Lady, are you alright? I saw you get hit." Thalia said as she casually summoned a ball of lightning in her hand and threw it at a monster. The monster screeched before dissolving into dust.

"Yes, I'm alright." Artemis said as she fired three arrows straight through the eyes of six monsters. "Hunters, brace yourselves!"

Thalia's eyes widened and she immediately relayed the order. The Hunters tightened into a group and Artemis took a breath, praying that it would work. With a yell, she revealed her true form. And she, along with her Hunters, the Olympians and the Campers that were watching, were thoroughly shocked.

Instead of a golden light of power, Artemis emitted a blinding silver light of pure destruction. The light was so intense, that the Immortal Campers had to shut their eyes from it and even the Olympians had to squint or be at risk of being blinded. However, the Hunters, even the ones who had lifted their visors, could see perfectly well.

Everything, literally everything around her, except for her Hunters ,was leveled and destroyed almost immediately. A ring of power, light and colossal force blew outwards from her as Tartarus shook from the power that Artemis was emitting. It was so powerful that soon, the walls were crumbling and the ceiling was cracking. Then, the entire place completely collapsed, crushing and sealing the gates to Tartarus under millions of tons of rock.

A split-instant later, Artemis and her Hunters appeared in the throne room, completely unscathed and looking extremely unnerving, since their visors glittered as brightly as ever before.

"Mission accomplished, Lord Zeus." Artemis said formally. "Now, do I have your permission to go and restart my Hunt?"

Zeus, along with everyone else, just gaped at Artemis, surprised that she and her group of girls could take down so many monsters without getting a scratch. Plus, the display of Artemis's powers had, although they'd never admit, had frightened them.

"I…I…of course you…" Zeus stuttered, struggling to find his words. Luckily for him, he was saved by Apollo.

Apollo, who was lying on the ground being healed by Hestia, suddenly jerked upright. His mouth dropped open and a golden light flowed from it. The light formed a vague image, which showed a golden throne, a golden room and a indistinct person who was sitting on the throne. Then a voice spoke, a voice that contained ancient power.

 _The Earth, the Ancients, shall rise anew,_

 _Strengthened by End's own sinew,_

 _The Seven, the Creator, shall answer the summons,_

 _To save, or not to save, the Moon is in question,_

 _One choice, shall end this world,_

 _One choice, will save all worlds,_

 _The Son of Poseidon shall rise from death,_

 _To save this world from End's mighty wrath._

When it finished, the golden light disappeared, and Apollo slumped back onto the ground.

For a second, everyone just stared at Apollo with a mixture of shock. Then Artemis spoke up.

"Great. _Another_ prophecy."

A couple hours later, Artemis walked along the beach of Camp Half-Blood, watching the waves of the ocean glitter and sparkle under the moonlight. In her hands, she held the silver rose, which only seemed to glow brighter than ever under the moonlight and its close proximity to the ocean. She breathed in deeply, taking in the smells of the ocean and the rose before she stopped walking. Right here. It was right here where she had first found love. And it was right here where Apollo had destroyed it. Artemis ground her teeth together. She was going to have words with her little brother, although she'd do her best to stop herself from physically assaulting him.

Artemis stood there and faced the ocean, continuing to brood and mourn, not moving at all, even when she heard footsteps behind her. It was Thalia.

"My Lady…um, well, I, uh, _we_ think that you should…know about this too." Thalia mumbled as she lifted her visor. She reached into her pocket and took out her iPod and the earphones. Without preamble, Thalia put it in Artemis's hand and dashed off, looking rather embarrassed.

Artemis frowned slightly and looked at the iPod in her hand. It was set as a photo slideshow. Shrugging, she put the earphones into her ear and touched the 'Play' button. And was deeply surprised at what she saw, and heard.

 _Come along with me_

 _To the butterflies and bees_

 _We can wander through the forest_

 _And do so as we please_

It was a compilation of pictures that Thalia had taken of Percy, usually when he had done a goofy thing, or a funny thing. It provided a window into his past, giving Artemis a glimpse of what Percy had been before he had become a Guardian.

 _Come along with me_

 _To a cliff under a tree_

Artemis blushed as she saw the next picture. It was a picture of when Percy had been badly wounded from the basilisk attack, and Percy had been tenderly taking care of her, even feeding her. And there she was, lying on his lap and practically begging to be taken care.

 _All of my affections_

 _I give them all to you_

 _Maybe by next summer_

 _We won't have changed our tunes_

The slideshow continued, showing off quite a few pictures of Artemis cheerfully teasing Percy, torturing him, and some of them, now that she looked back on them, were embarrassingly obvious at just how the position and her movements revealed that she had taken a liking to him.

Artemis also couldn't help but listen more and more to the music that was playing in the background. It deeply moved and connected with her.

 _A very appropriate and apt name, considering my situation…_ Artemis though sadly.

She continued watching and listening, and almost dropped the iPod. The last photo was a scene that she cherished and yet was deeply ashamed of.

Thalia had somehow gotten a picture of the exact moment when her lips and Percy's met, the moon a super bright orb of light right above them.

"I…I uh, I hope you don't mind that I took that picture." A voice squeaked by her side. Artemis turned to find Thalia right beside her, beet red in the face.

Artemis smiled a true smile for the first time since Percy's death as she slung an arm over her Lieutenant's shoulder.

"It's alright, Thalia. I love it. Thank you for showing this to me." Artemis said. "Now let's go and honor your brother's memory, shall we?"  
_

* * *

As the weeks rolled by, Artemis and her Hunters soon became some of the most dangerous beings on the planet. Their skills were sharper than ever, and they constantly trained and thought up new, faster, more efficient methods of killing their target. Combined with the unnerving, moral-reducing visor and armor, they were up to practically any task that required stealth, speed, efficiency and strength.

Artemis and her Hunters also became colder. They became colder, frostier, and less forgiving, with Artemis prone to slaughter any man she saw on sight and her Hunters to torture them. However, since Percy had always wanted to help demigods get to Camp Half-Blood, Artemis had taken up the task to help any demigod along their path to Camp Half-Blood, boy or girl, in defiance of Zeus's frustration, who constantly reminded Artemis of the Ancient Laws. Artemis however, ignored them.

The loss of Percy had them hard, but the one who suffered the most was Artemis. Not a night would pass without Artemis kneeling and remembering by Percy's bed, where she had put the silver rose. Not a day or night would pass without her remembering and mourning the day she lost her friend, her Guardian, her confidante. The day she had lost her partner, her Hunter and…

Her Love.


End file.
